NationStates Jolt Archive

"Hello, your Lordship..."

Lord Takrav Delkos spun in an instant to face the voice, a pulser and a long knife coming into his claws as extra layers of arcane protection flashed into existence around him - and then saw the identity of his unexpected guest. He dropped the weapons, let the magical shielding dissipate, and bowed low. Seldevir was the most powerful Angelic Gopher seen in generations; it wouldn't do to risk offending him, and resistance was pointless if he had come with execution in mind.

"To what do I owe the honor of this visit, High Councilor?"

"I have been receiving some somewhat troubling reports about our cousins. Three Demonic Gopher dreadnoughts have vanished. You have enough contacts in Intelligence to know how closely we watch those ships, and yet half their navy has gone somewhere, and our scouts have failed to discover any trace of their location. What's more, they've caught a few glimpses of strange ships in Demonic Gopher territory. I have my ideas about who sent them, and if I am right, this situation is even more important than it looks.

"I want those ships found! Our alternates are involved in something big, and I want to know what. I'm placing you in charge of the project. You're authorized to call upon half the Scout Force and a quarter of the Navy for the search, and more if you need it once you've found them. Report back to me the moment you find anything, and be careful! We may have to deal with enemies here that we cannot readily outrun. This chip has everything we know about the situation."

"It shall be done as you command."

Seldevir vanished with a flash of golden light, leaving Takrav alone in his bedchamber again. Sleep forgotten, he took the data chip the Angelic Gopher leader had left on his table, plugged it into his computer, and began pouring over the reports. He had a lot of work to do by morning.


Soon, small groups of Angelic Gopher scouts and warships were scouring the galaxy for any trace of their enemy's missing vessels - greater numbers than had left Angori territory in centuries. They had their orders; the Dreadnoughts would be found.

OOC: This is primarily to establish that these events are occurring, and isn't likely to affect anyone else directly, but feel free to join in if you wish. Just post your forces spotting a group of unknown vessels, and the situation under which this happens. If you join, please let me know what sort of sensors your ships are using and how far away they work, so I can figure out how likely my forces are to have seen you first.... There's groups wandering about all over, so you might plausibly encounter them at your border or anywhere in neutral space.

OOC: Vzxlackian patrol ships have life, tech, atmospheric, gravitational body, and spacial anomaly sensors with varying degrees of detail. The maximum range of error-free margin for life and tech is at 80 light years, extending farther with an ever increasing chance of error.

IC:

The patrol ship stood stationary in empty space, observing the farthest edges of Imperial Space. Like all patrol vessels of the Vzxlackian Empire, its mission was to seek out possible threats from beyond the Empire's territories and summon a fleet of battleships to eradicate the breach. Outsiders, considered lesser species, were never welcomed within the borders of Vzxlackian space, nor were conquered cultures allowed to leave without express authorization from Vzxlack itself.

At only 260 meters in length and armed with a lethal assortment of weapons, the patrol ship did not appear too impressive by itself. However, it was never meant to attack a fleet, only hold its own against one until battleships arrived. For this reason, its shields were impressive for its small size, reinforced with the hardest armor alloys along its hull found in the Vzxlackian Empire. It was ready to withstand any possible assault.

Thus the insectoid creatures, the Vzxlackians, that manned the vessel were immediately positioning themselves for battle when they detected a fleet of unidentified ships within the borders of the empire. Weapons were armed and charged, ready to take aim at the approaching ships. Word was sent to a nearby Vzxlackian system to send a fleet of battleships immediately. Whoever dared violate the empire's border would soon know Vzxlack's wrath.

OOC: Given the situation, you'd probably spot them first, then. Tech sensors will be giving a much stronger reading than life sensors, and you may get some strange energy readings. Be warned that Angelic Gophers use magic; if you prefer, I can keep it out of the way in the background. Either way, it won't be anything unreasonable - no "I turn your fleet into a pile of exploding frogs!" or anything. Apologies for the delay; I didn't see your post until now.

IC:
Angori scout fleets vary considerably in size, depending on the pull of the noble in charge. This one had twelve ships, ranging from the trio of tiny 20 meter scout ships that served as its eyes to the 600 meter battle cruiser that was its command ship. The fleet was traveling in jumps, skimming across a few hundred light years without pause, then stopping to give the surrounding area an intensive examination. As it happened, one such pause came some 30 ly from the Vzxlackian patrol ship.

"Commander, I'm picking up a ship in Sector five, about [30 light years] away. I think it's already seen us. Scanners place it in the 200-300 meter range, with a probable defensive focus."

"Send the data to my screen. Is this thing in our database?"

"No, High Lady." a technician answered. "We've never seen anything like it."

"Hm... From the looks, we could take it if we had to. I think we should make contact. Whoever they are, these people are obviously watchful. They may have seen one of the dreadnoughts. Besides, it is high time they get an entry in our records. Bring us to them!"

The fleet glided through a curve and swept off toward the patrol ship. The skimmer drive that was their primary means of FTL travel didn't carry them vary far (by interstellar standards) with any one jump, but it could make thousands of jumps per second, and they approached swiftly... even at half speed. Their gold trimmed white armor gleamed impressively, even in the faint starlight.

Just as the Angelic Gopher fleet came out of its last jump, the Vzxlackian patrol ship opened fire on one of the scouts. It was a great blow to shields for the smaller vessel. Soon after the first shot was made, the rest of the patrol vessel's plasma cannons opened fire on the other ships, each one as powerful as the first.

It was obvious now to the Gophers that the patrol ship had extremely hostile intentions. A hailing signal, sent in text, once translated would read: "All trespassing vessels will be terminated."

Any attempt to send a response was jammed by the patrol vessel's equipment as it continued battering the Gopher fleet with its cannon fire. Negotiations were not an option. It was fight or die.

At roughly 230 lightyears away, the closest Vzxlackian outpost received the patrol ship's report of intruders within the imperial space borders. Five orbiting Vzxlackian battleships entered hyperspace to answer the call, weapons readied and armed for the moment of their arrival.

Coming under fire from a ship 13 times its length and vastly more massive, the first scout didn’t have a chance. Plasma blasted through the light shielding that protected the smaller vessel from radiation and random debris, seared through the gleaming white armor, and reduced much of the interior to slag. The detonation of the heavily damaged power core obliterated what wreckage remained, spraying shrapnel across the area

The rest of the scout fleet would not fall so easily. The moment after the Vzxlackian patrol ship fired its first shot, a golden glow surrounded the remaining Gopher vessels as they brought up their battle screens. Weapons slid out of concealed gun ports, and strange, jointed metal wings unfolded from within the upper portions of the ships. In the few seconds it took to complete this process, it became quite clear that their attacker would not negotiate.

As plasma splashed across her battle cruiser’s shielding, Lady Telvith laughed.

“These fools must have a death wish! We must try to capture at least a few of them alive, it it’s not too much trouble. They could prove amusing prisoners.”

Activating her communicator, she sent her orders to the rest of the fleet.

“All ships, fall back to three light seconds! They’re using sub-light weapons, and may not have anything we can’t dodge at that range available. When we get their shield down, hold fire!”

A golden glow more intense than that of the battle screens shimmered into place around the wings of the Angori fleet, filling the space between the metal frameworks that made them up. An additional blue light mingled with the battle screens of the remaining scouts, surrounding them with a vibrant green aura, and they swept almost instantly back to the instructed distance. A plasma blast caught one on its left wing as it fell back; the ship was visibly shaken by the impact, and the golden glow of the wing flickered, but it showed no sign of actual damage.

The other eight vessels, a mix of cruisers and destroyers, swept about smoothly on waves of controlled gravity until their wings were between them and the enemy. Even in this short time, several shots slammed against their battle screens, weakening and dimming them – but then the ships jumped, skimming back to the three light second mark and spreading out.

The battle cruiser, however, made no move to retreat. Instead, it spun about with the grace of a considerably smaller ship to present one broadside to the enemy and returned fire. Twenty-five heavy pulsers lashed at the Vzxlackian patrol ship, each firing once per second and filling the cruiser with their distinctive buzzing hiss. Pulser turrets are both fast and powerful, but they have a sharply limited range of effect. If it retreated, the battle cruiser would have to give up the majority of its firepower; Telvith preferred to test her vessel’s battle screen against the smaller enemy ship.

Pulser fire is invisible, so the wave of ion bolts, interference beams, and other anti-shield weapons that washed toward the patrol ship would appear, to an outside observer, to be the primary assault. To the battle cruiser’s crew, it was little more than background activity, but sometimes these specialized weapons could take down a shield faster than simple brute force.

The final component of the attack launched by Telvith’s ship was volley after volley of specialized projectiles, dozens of them in each wave. They were small, and not especially fast moving, and at first seemed like a small drop in the bucket of the battle cruiser’s firepower. Then they reached the vicinity of the Vzxlackian vessel, and their purpose became apparent. Pairs of narrow energy beams lanced out from small emitters in the hull of the battle cruiser, crossing at a precise location on each of the projectiles. Mere decimeters away from the patrol ship’s shielding, each of these projectiles exploded with the force of a small nuclear bomb. In most cases, the careful arrangement of the projectile’s components drove a tiny metal dart straight forward at tremendous speed. A few, however, had been knocked slightly out of alignment. The ship’s targeting computer was still more than capable of making sure the blaster beams crossed in the projectile’s trigger point, but only the shrapnel and radiation of the explosion crashed against the target’s shield.

By the time this first volley had detonated, the other vessels were in position and ready to join the fray. Spread out enough to fire at the enemy around their larger companion, they wove an intricate circular dance to make themselves harder to target. Although out of pulser range, they struck at the patrol ship with interference beams and other light-speed anti-shield weapons, along with simple photon pulse turrets firing in several frequencies.

((OCC: If you have any questions about my tech or such matters, feel free to ask. Let me know when those battleships get to about 10 light hours away; the Angelic Gophers will almost certainly have detected them by that point.))

The patrol ship rocked with the returned fire from the Gopher fleet, but it did not stray from inundating the enemy shields with its own cannon fire. After the nuclear equivalent explosions occured, the heavily armored hull of the patrol vessel formed small burns, much of the destruction held back by shields. Vzxlackian patrol ships were sturdy vessels for a reason. Though it would not win against this fleet on its own, it wasn't meant to.

"[Scanners indicate a limited range on many of the cruiser weapons,]" a Vzxlackian bridge operator clicked and buzzed to the ship commander. "[Coordinates on range calculated. Suggested tactic of moving back to appropriate position.]"

"[Transfer to navigation,]" buzzed the commander. "[Navigation, move us to that position.]" The commander shifted to face combat analysis. "[Shield status?]"

"[72% and dropping marginally,]" replied the technician reading from its panel screen.

Shortly, the patrol vessel turned and swerved out of range of the Angelic Gopher pulser turrets. As it moved, the patrol ship did not end its fire, cannon turrets turning to continue their fire at the enemy fleet. While it moved, strange metallic objects exited in a trail behind the ship, explosive target-seeking space mines. Once out of range, it organized itself in primary battle position once more.

The Angelic Gophers barely got a warning on their scanners before the fleet of five Vzxlackian battleships, each an intimidating 2 kilometers in length, dropped out of hyperspace nearby. Cannons aimed and took fire at the offending Gopher fleet while small fighters swarmed out of the large ships, and torpedoes darting forwards.

OOC: Vzxlackian hyperspace travel is a little bit too fast to allow an adequate warning at lighthour range.

((OOC: No problem there, I didn’t expect the warning to be useful.))

Retreating beyond the range of the pulser turrets was a logical tactic, and one often attempted by enemies that recognized the weapon’s limitation. It had only one problem – Angori battle cruisers are fast. As the Vzxlackian patrol ship curved away from its opponent, Telvith’s vessel glided confidently after it in pursuit. The mines were swept out of its path by a torrent of point defense fire; though their precise nature was not obvious, they were clearly intended to block the course in some way. The other vessels kept up their long range assault, merely adjusting their aim to account for the patrol ship’s motion.

Possibly the Vzxlackian vessel would have soon outrun its pursuer, but that was not to be tested at this time.

“High Lady, energy readings suggest we’ve got their shields below three quarters of their original strength, perhaps 70%.”

Telvith nodded. “How are our screens holding up?”

“The generators can’t take this much strain indefinitely, but so far we’re maintaining shield strength. I think we’ll be able to finish them off without sustaining damage.”

“Excellent! It’s a tough ship we’re dealing with, but it’s as good as ours unless it gets some help. Prepare a boar-“

“Alert! Incoming fleet detected!”

Before the scout could even finish this transmission, the Vzxlackian battleships had arrived, and cannonfire tore it to shreds before Lady Telvith could respond.

“Fighting retreat and scatter, through Sector 7! Destroyers, anti-missile duty.

A two kilometer battleship was not enormously impressive to a navy used to fighting the enormous Demonic Gopher dreadnoughts, but taking on five of them at once was a bigger risk than Telvith cared to take, especially considering the durability of the much smaller patrol ship.

The scout resumed its green aura and glided off at such tremendous speed that the patrol ship would begin to have difficulty tracking it within seconds, accelerating all the while. The other ships, using the skimmer drive, could not attain this speed, but they were moving away at light days per second almost instantly. The battle cruiser was the last to leave, since it still had to turn, but it quickly became clear that it was faster than any except the scout, traveling more than 25 light seconds with each jump.

Even in the brief moment between the arrival of the Vzxlackian battleships and the departure of the Angori vessels, the scout fleet took a battering. Cannon fire was the greatest threat. Only the surviving scout escaped without considerable weakening of its battle screens, and one of the destroyers had its screen taken down entirely. Plasma seared its complicated armor, warping plates and machinery and blasting away many of the cells that gave it its gleaming white color. A light cruiser also suffered damage, losing one of its wings as several shots slammed into it in quick succession. Torpedoes were less of a problem, having to survive a withering hail of fire from the three destroyers before they even drew the attention of the larger vessels’ point defenses. As for the fighters, they barely had time to launch before the Angelic Gopher ships departed the area.

No two ships followed exactly the same course, but they were all moving in roughly the same direction. This was not the direction they had come from. The Gophers fled away from the Vzxlackian vessels, but at an almost 90 degree angle to their original course, as if they had been reflected by the insectoids’ territory.

(OOC: Are all of the cannons you’ve been using so far plasma based? I don’t want to mis-portray what your forces are doing. Feel free to pursue, use grapnel beams, or what ever, of course. This is just what the Angori are trying to do.))

OOC: No... a good margin of the cannons on the patrol ship and battleships are the more lethal ion-based weaponry. Even if an unprotected direct hit is survived, the ions really screw with the target ship's circuitry, usually disabling it. Also contained are weapons designed specifically to disrupt shields, and of course the ever popular tractor beams. Vzxlackians are very focused on obliterating opponents.

IC:

The swift retreat was partially expected by the Vzxlackian fleet of battleships. Many times while defensively guarding the borders, the intruding parties would attempt such an escape. Quickly the course of departure was analyzed and calculated, aided by the various deep space scanners. The main direction of retreat was found and programmed into each of the battleship navigational systems.

Each large, cumbersome vessel turned, the maneuverability of such large objects quite poor compared to their smaller counterpart, the patrol vessel. Once the proper angle of trajectory was achieved, each of the five Vzxlackian battleships entered hyperspace travel to pursue the fleeing Angelic Gopher fleet. No one who bore witness to Vzxlackian space was allowed to survive.

Left behind, the lone patrol vessel resumed its duty of watching the imperial borders. Within it, several repair droids scurried about, patching up a few minor damages suffered in the battle.

Task Force 77, Confederate Navy, Border Patrol Incident Report 76.5:

Commodore Owens, Battleship Agamemnon, Confederate States Navy:

Between the hours of 15:00 and 16:00 local time, sensor technicians detected several anomalous readings. The first readings indicated a number of vessels of unknown make and class, though tentative identifications were made based on relative masses of detected vessels. Shortly thereafter, a second group appeared. Numerous energy discharges were witnessed, and some vessels appeared to be destroyed. At this time I am dispatching Agamemnon and half of the Cruiser escort to investigate. I have deployed the destroyer screen in such a manner that they might fall upon the enemy unawares, though actual deployment will not be executed until after our first engagement with hostile forces. All pertinent data on my force condition has been included.

The message went out, faster than light itself, to meet the eyes of the commanders back in the New Virginia offices of the Navy. It was duly noted, and filed.

The massive two and a half kilometer long bulk of the Agamemnon shattered reality. The thirteen heavy and seventeen light cruisers that followed it were no less impressive, bristling with lethal intent and massive Grasers and Xasers. Destroyers spread out, appearing in a shell around the embattled forces, while the remainder of the screening cruisers prepared their drives to appear wherever it seemed they were most needed. Shortly after appearance, things happened very quickly. Gun crews scrambled to ready their weapons, powering up batteries capable of wreaking devastation in a truly awesome fashion, while missiles loaded and locked onto their targets.

I suggest both y'all just quit shootin right naow! I do not care who started this little skirmish, but I will not have any fighting on my god damn doorstep, so whichever of y'all started this, I'm gonna end it, and if I have to destroy each and every ship here to do it, then so be it, by God! The harsh accent of the Commodore was faithfully transmitted across the open circuit, promising devastation to anyone foolish enough to argue. The numerical disparity and tactical advantage the jump drives of the Terrans made this look like a fairly bleak situation for the insectoid attackers, though it could as easily turn on the attacked party, if things fell out badly. The 40 destroyers of the Task Force had created a rough sphere about the combative parties, and with the guns of the assault portion of their group directed straight at the embattled ships, it was hoped they'd not even need to fire a shot. Especially after the FTLi ripped them out of supralight, and stopped them from going any deeper into Confederate space.

OOC: Quick rundown: Both groups of ships have charged into a sphere of null-FTL made by my destroyers. They will see a Battleship, and the Cruisers, as well as the encircling destroyers. I'll explain anything on request.

((Aha! The plot thickens...))

“High Lady, the enemy is pursuing us!”

“Somehow, I am not surprised… Are they gaining?”

“I can’t tell yet; there’s too much interference. I’ll have to watch them for a period.”

“Very well. Inform me as soon as you know.”

Meanwhile, the scout was far ahead of the other vessels, and beginning to shift to a different course. Its objective was to take a round-about course back to Angelic Gopher territory, bringing a report of the battle without leading the Vzxlackians back home. Of the two, the latter point was by far the more immediate, and currently it was just trying to make sure it had lost all pursuit.

((OOC: I’d ask for a general speed estimate, or if you wanted a long chase or a short one, but that’s kind of unimportant now…))

The skimmer drive, which had been humming away at full speed, quite suddenly stopped.

“There’s an inhibitor field!” announced one of the technicians, rather needlessly.

“Incoming transmission.” added another at almost the same instant.

Lady Telvith listened to the Commodore’s blunt ultimatum, then calmly activated her in-fleet communication system.

“The fleet shall deactivate and retract all weapons immediately. Battle screens are to remain up.”

Almost as soon as the command was given, it was carried out. The battered scout fleet waited within the FTLi zone, armor bright in the golden glow of their battle screens, looking all but unarmed.

((OOC: MM, mind if my scout avoids your FTLi? It was taking a different course, and a considerable distance away from the other ships. If you caught them before it got far enough away, assume it’s in a different section of the sphere, probably closer to one edge.))

EDIT: Finally! No delay for Mod approval! Hopefully that nuisance (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=511849) is done with for good.

OOC: I'll let it go. One ship won't hurt nothin. Now to see if I get to participate in a mass slaughter, or if I play nice and don't kill any/everything for once.

Indeed the Vzxlackian fleet had been gaining on the fleeing Angelic Gopher fleet. Overtaking the pursued targets was within sight. Weapons remained charged and ready to resume the pummeling of the Gopher ships when caught up to. It was suddenly to the surprise of the Vzxlackians that they were forced out of hyperspace some manner inhibitor field. Whoever dared interfere was about to learn that it was unwise to test the patience of the Vzxlackian Empire.

Ahead, on their visuals, the Vzxlackians saw that the fleeing Angelic Gopher ships had also been halted from FTL travel. Further analysis brought into view the fleet of ships that had stopped them. Within moments, a hailing transmission was received and quickly translated to the Vzxlackian tongue by communications. What they found there was a threat.

A text message was returned to the Confederate forces, reading thus once translated: "Interfering with the pursuit of criminals convicted under the Law of Vzxlack is tantamount to aiding and abetting."

Afterwards, all communications from the Confederate forces attempting to reach the Vzxlackian ships were promptly jammed. The insectoid species was not a diplomatic one. Battleship cannons took aim at the offending Confederate vessels, primarily the largest one, and opened fire. Swarms of fighters were launched from the five vessels to overwhelm the enemy.

All creatures were seen as lesser beings and none had the rights to encroach upon Vzxlackian affairs. The universe, as preached by generations of Hivelords, was to eventually belong to Vzxlack. The Confederates had interfered and breached these sovereign Vzxlackian rights.

OOC: A few rough schematics of your ships might help, sir.

OOC: I've got them statted out somewhere, if I can remember where I put it. Suffice to say that in terms of making just about anything within a very large radius die a horrible and ungainly death, they rank fairly well up there. I'm not sure why you need stats on my ships, while providing none yourself, but I'm sure it's just my being irrational.

Battleships have 70 double turrets of 600cm Grasers, Heavy Cruisers 45 triple of 450cm, Light Cruisers 30 doubles of 400cm, and Destroyers 20 doubles of 400cm. That's the main battery. In the secondary they have a number of guns equal to half again their main battery, of the next size increment down. Destroyers and Light Cruisers have half again, with 300cm. All ships have an impressive point defense system, and the ability to employ anything from their main or secondary battery in a point defense role as well. Mostly because they're conceived with the idea of an enemy that likes multi0-hundred ton cfracs as main guns in mind.

IC:

"Vzxlack law! Their in our damn territory now, and they will damn well do what I say, when I say, or suffer the consequences. Alright boys, give'em hell." Commodore Owens flagship rocked slightly from the attacks, but it was a ship of the Wall, more massive than nearly anything fielded by any other galactic power in its role, and more powerful than most by half. Now it showed why. 140 massive Grasers tracked on a pair of attacking Battleships. 140 grasers fired, in a mass of anticlimax so powerful it was almost a let down. No impressive bolts of visible light, no flashy effects. Just a combined output of hundreds of terawatts of raw power screaming at light speed across the intervening distance. Other ships fired as well, Cruisers of both stripes concentrating their firepower on but a single opponent, utilizing their superior numbers and devastating firepower to smash whatever stood in their way.

Visible from space, the shields of the Agamemnon barely flickered, it, designed to engage and defeat Dreadnoughts of other nations, shrugged off the attacks of the opposing battleships with contemptuous ease. The shields had, in reality dropped by nearly 15% in the first volley, but when they had been still on their way to reaching full power in the first place, the effect was even more disconcerting, as the damage blipped, before the shields swelled, brighter than ever.

Destroyers, surrounding the combating vessels, began to swiftly close. They weren't very dangerous individually, but even a battleship would be forced to take notice if 40 of them targeted it with everything they had. The remaining half of the Cruiser screen slashed in as well, falling upon the remaining battleship, and engaging it with all guns, as they pressed home their manifold advantages, namely speed, surprise, and numbers. Ion weaponry washed helplessly against the shields, spattering uselessly against the focussed energy planes and kinetic screens that guarded Confederate vessels. It was liable to be a short and fairly brutal fight, with the heavy handed and swift Confederates swiftly hammering the unknowns into immobility and disarmament.

PD batteries spat further coherent light, swatting away at fighters, while secondary batteries targeted hangars, missile tubes, guns...all the things the opposing ships required to remain a threat to the task force.

Captains all across the relatively small task force paid close attention, the Commodore hadn't fired a single missile yet, which meant he had something unpleasant planned. Whatever it might be, many hoped that it would be unneeded, and that sheer firepower from their batteries would win the day. Many also hoped that the fleeing ships would join the fray and provide some assistance, but that was an unknown factor that few cared to truly speculate on.

OOC: Any possibility that I can join or do you have enough people here as it is?

The fleeing ships would indeed join the fray. The moment the Confederate ships opened fire, Telvith gave the signal to rearm; by the time the first volley slammed home, the Angori vessels were again ready to fight.

Angelic Gophers are firm believers in concentration of fire, especially when facing larger opponents. In this case, Lady Telvith chose to target one of the two Vzxlackian battleships that was facing the Agamemnon’s wrath, deciding that this would give her forces more room to maneuver than taking on of the vessels already facing a swarm. The Angori vessels glided swiftly into position around the line of fire between the two struggling battleships, carefully steering clear of the area directly between them. It wouldn’t do to get in the way…

Their unfortunate target had to face the same assault the battle cruiser had unleashed upon the Vzxlackian patrol ship – the invisible pounding of the Pulsers, the relentless torrent of anti-shield beams, the shrapnel and radiation of the Blast Darts – and added to it, the less dramatic and powerful, but hardly insignificant, lashing of photon pulse emitters. This time, however, the other eight ships stayed right in the thick of the fighting, where they could use their close range weapons to full effect.

Additionally, the Angelic Gophers launched their own set of fighters. There weren’t many of them, compared to the Vzxlackian swarms; after all, there were only six Angori cruisers present, and not a single battleship. Angori heavy fighters, however, had not been designed to rely on numbers. The ten meter ships were an unusual design that took full advantage of the tiny size of their pilots, resembling miniature battleships or destroyers more than conventional fighters. They had speed to match virtually any fighter of the same size range, and better agility than most, but they also carried a full crew of gunners and a powerful targeting computer. They made no move to attack the enemy battleships, instead devoting themselves to countering the Vzxlackian fighters. Any unfortunate enough to pass in front of one of the Angori hunters faced withering fire from the four energy cannons* built into the structure of the ship, each barrel seven meters long; at the same time, the turrets that lined the fighters’ sides flailed at any enemy within sight, easily taking into account any but the fastest and least predictable of evasive maneuvers.

As the scout fleet flung itself into battle, Telvith transmitted an open message.

-“My apologies for bringing this nonsense to your door. The least I can do is help you clean up the mess.”-

*Different fighters have a different set of weapons, although the arrangement is the same, to increase versatility. Pulsers are the most common, but all the standard Angori weapons except Blast Darts see use.

((OOC: Telros – sure, feel free. As long as it doesn’t get too crowded to keep track of what’s going on, anyone reasonably competent is welcome.))

The massive battle being fought between Angelic Gophers and the Vzxlackian Empire, with aid from the Solarin Confederacy, did not go unnoticed. The Sensor Station Hera had detected strange energy echoes and had focused its powerful telescope on the area. Upon discovering the battling forces, HIGHCOM had been notified and they were tasked to keep watching as the Imperium prepared for it to spill over into their territory. Border patrols were alerted and patrols increased. However, things were accelerated when the Confederate ships appeared in the system, and were soon fired upon by the Vzxlackian ships. Although they were not allies, and relations had not even begun, the Emperor was in their territory and in order to further strengthen the negotiations that he was undoubtedly involved in, they decided to send a battle fleet to go aid the Confederates.

And so it was that with a large explosion of light that Battle Fleet Cerberus appeared out of Slipspace, just off of the battling fleets. The battle fleet powered up their weapons, and began to deploy Longsword squadrons. The fleet shifted, as it assumed the best positions possible for combat. It was made up of a single carrier, the ITS Millennium, two cruisers, the ITS Shard of Hope and the Leviathan, along with five destroyers and six frigates. They were all that could be sent on short notice, as HIGHCOM assembled a proper reinforcing fleet to come in, in case things hit the fan. Commanded by Commander Hawkins, a veteran of the Human Civil War, they were ready to fight.

Hawkins stood on the bridge, arms gripping the railing. "Status report!"

Ensign Lavoria was manning the Sensor station. "Sir, all of Battle Fleet Cerberus has transited out of Slipspace with no problems reported. Squadrons are being deployed as you ordered and the fleets weapons are powering up." The Commander nodded at her and turned to the pad next to him.

"Marcus?"

A yellow-red A.I. in the shape of a Roman Legionnaire appeared. "Scans show 10 ships that appear to be heavily battered, evidence pointing to the other fleet as the cause, but still in fighting shape. The Confederates have over 101 ships in the area and are currently engaging the foes of the first fleet. The last one has only five ships. The Confederates appear to be aiding the first fleet. Both sides have launched fighters, though the aggressor fleet appears to have launched more."

Hawkins stroked his chin and thought very quickly, his mind moving through battleplans. "Very well. Have the Longsword squadrons stay around the fleet until I say otherwise and focus on enemy fighters and projectiles. Get me some firing solutions on that enemy fleet and open a channel with the Confederates."

"Yes sir." The A.I. vanished and a beeping sound was soon heard, signaling that the channel was open.

Confederate Fleet, this is Commander Hawkins of Battle Fleet Cerberus. The Imperium took notice of your fight and decided to join in. After all, we can't be letting you have ALL the fun. Is there any place you need us or do you just want some help in dealing with these aggressors?

"Incoming Transmission... "Confederate Fleet, this is Commander Hawkins of Battle Fleet Cerberus. The Imperium took notice of your fight and decided to join in. After all, we can't be letting you have ALL the fun. Is there any place you need us or do you just want some help in dealing with these aggressors?" Transmission ends. Reply?" The adjutant was a semi-mechanical support figure in the ships company, but its ability to juggle many tasks was unparalleled.

"Hell yes we'll reply. Get me their commander." The grizzled veteran, in both the literal and figurative senses, Owens was fairly mauled from a career of combat, knew better than to look at any unasked for help from notional allies askance.

Good to see some real help out here Commander, if you could send in your fighters to keep the majority of the enemy swarm off of my back, I'd be right obliged. And joining in on the 5th Battleship that my Destroyers are painting'd be right helpful as well. With this much support I can actually solidify this from a slugfest into something resembling a battle of maneuver. You've got my thanks Commander Hawkins, for now, we've got work to do.

Vzxlackian battleships were durable in combat, there was no question about it. Their shielding was probably among the best that any vessel in deep space had to offer. Even with this much firepower pointed at them, the Vzxlackian battleships were not receiving enough damage to the likened hopes of their enemies. Combat was the one thing the insectoid creatures excelled at over anything else.

Each of the tiny, 8 meter long fighters were designed with the best maneuverability in mind, the controls taking advantage of the smaller second set of arms that every Vzxlackian was hatched with. Thus the fighters pulled off feats that creatures limited to a single pair of arms could not. They ravaged the enemy fleets like angry bees from a hive swarm an animal foolish enough to disturb it. Scanners from enemy ships would estimate roughly 4,500 of them in number.

Though holding their own against the enemy fleets, they were still outmatched dramatically by sheer numbers of cruisers and battleships. Ship shields on the Vzxlackian vessels were dropping marginally, but dropping nonetheless. Enemy weapons had scorched several places of their armored hulls, and repair droids scrambled along the surface to repair such damages with their nano-systems.

It did not take a genius to see that the Vzxlackians would lose this fight without evening the score. Thus the five battleships sent out a distress call back towards their imperial borders. A request for reinforcements was placed in. Defeat was never an understood or acceptable concept in the Vzxlackian mindset.

Hawkins stood, waiting for a reply from the Confederates, watched the tactical holomap as the fleets traded fire and the fighters weaved in and out of ships, exchanging fire with the PD systems and other fighters. The battle was raging on fiercely and his hands gripped the railing even tighter. He hoped HIGHCOM sent the reinforcements soon, he wasn't sure about this one. They had plenty of ships firing at the five ships, more than enough even, but the damn things did not die. Along with the 4,500 fighters, it was going to be a tough battle.

"Sir, incoming reply from the Confederate Dreadnaught, Agamemnon." He nodded.

"Play it."

Good to see some real help out here Commander, if you could send in your fighters to keep the majority of the enemy swarm off of my back, I'd be right obliged. And joining in on the 5th Battleship that my Destroyers are painting'd be right helpful as well. With this much support I can actually solidify this from a slugfest into something resembling a battle of maneuver. You've got my thanks Commander Hawkins, for now, we've got work to do.


Hawkins smirked and took out his pipe. Putting in tobacco and lighting it up, he took a poof and let it out. "Understood, Commodore. We will take care of the fighters and aid you in engaging the 5th Battleship. Reinforcements are on their way, but I have no idea of their ETA." At the mention of work, he smirked. "I have always been working, Commodore, this is just another page to the pile. Commander Hawkins out." Turning to face the rest of the crew, he began to bark out orders.

"Bring the fleet up to Code Red, status. Switch the target to the battleship the Confederate destroyers battling. Have eighty Longsword squadrons shoot forward to engage the enemy, the remainder are to provide point defense for the Battle Fleet. Charge up plasma generators and ready the MAC gun. Bring our reactor up to sixty percent and move the fleet forward! Frigates are to fire their salvo and then switch to engaging the fighters when they come within range!" The orders were given and the ships moved to accommodate them. The fleet moved forward, heading for the Vxzlackian Battleship that the Confederate destroyers were currently battling, as Longsword squadrons flew past the ships in the fleet, racing forward to engage the enemy fighters blasting the fleet apart. Wheeling to the right, they flew towards the embattled Confederate and Angelic Gopherian fleets.

The remaining squadrons took positions up around the fleet, ready to defend it. As soon as they came within range, the sides of the ships began to glow red, as plasma torpedoes began to gather. After several seconds, they were fired, around seventy six plasma torpedoes flew through space, tracking the Vxzlackain Battleship with great precision. It was joined by hundreds upon hundreds of Archer missiles fired from hidden pods. After which, the frigates and destroyers began to charge their MAC cannons, while the carrier and the two cruisers locked onto the ship, and began powering up their energy beam projectors.

While this was going on, the eighty Longsword squadrons had reached the main battle, and entered the fray alongside Gopherian fighters. Their speed allowed them to take on the Vxzlackian fighters without being outclassed and they engaged at will, firing a wave of one hundred and sixty armor-piercing, tracking missiles into the fray, and then started blasting away as the six hundred and forty fighters dispersed, squadrons taking on multiple targets at will.

The battle had truly begun.

One on one, or perhaps even five on one, the Vzxlackian fighters would have been hard pressed to threaten their Angori opponents. Between their smaller size, their focus on maneuverability, and the need to devote a substantial chunk of their available space to carrying and supporting the pilot, they simply didn’t have room for the defenses needed to resist the Gopher fighters’ weapons, and no ship carrying a live crew could manage the accelerations needed to dodge light speed fire from swiftly tracking turrets in a close range battle. They were tough ships for their size, though, and they outnumbered the Angori hunters by more than ten to one… much more. This advantage was only increasing as numbers took their inevitable toll and the Angelic Gopher fighters dropped, one by one, from the battle.

To make matters worse, the shielding on the Vzxlackian battleships was proving even tougher than Lady Telvith had expected. Despite the firepower pouring onto the Angelic Gophers’ chosen target, the weakening of its shields was barely detectable. This was looking to be a long and bloody battle, and even with the small number of ships the insectoids had present, the outcome was far from certain.

Throughout their history, the Angori have only rarely been accused of cowardice, though… and never by the same person twice. They were perfectly willing to risk their lives in battle, as long as they stood to gain something worth the trouble if they one. When the Vzxlackian battleships had first arrived, the prospect of victory and the potential benefits had both been small. Now, there were others present who had not proven themselves irrevocably hostile, and there was a solid chance of winning the fight. Even if the strangers with their FTLi were inclined to permit retreat, it wouldn’t do to make a bad first impression.

“The fleet is to watch our target’s shielding closely. If you see any gap large enough for Blaster fire, you know what to do.”

Telvith was gazing intently at the screen and sharpening a dagger when one of the scanner technicians called out to her.

“High Lady, the enemy vessels are transmitting some sort of signal back the way we came from.”

“The battle is edging in our direction. I’d bet my left hand they’re calling for help. Karthon, get me Lord Delkos.”

“Aye, Commander.” the communications officer replied, getting to work.

A few minutes later, he announced, “Lord Delkos will be ready momentarily, I’m connecting you to the communicator.”

“Well, have you found the dreadnoughts?”

“No, your Lordship. My search has been interrupted. We were attacked without provocation by an unknown civilization. When they received reinforcements in overwhelming force, we fled. We were stopped, but then aided, by other unknown forces. The battle is proceeding in our favor, but it will be close, and I believe the enemy will shortly receive further reinforcements. A strong force of our own could ensure the defeat of these fools, as well as making the proper impression on the ones who came to our assistance.”

“Yes, this could be important. I’ll send Lord Enderis, with as much of the Quick Reaction fleet as I can convince Lady Linkarus to spare for us.”

Ten minutes later, six Angori carriers were skimming toward the battle at more than two thirds of a light year per second.

OOC: Telros - the adjective form is Angori, or simply Gopher

Agamemnon practically ignored the swarming fighters, except to pick them off by ones and twos with its lighter weapons, it was concentrating far too heavily on engaging the opposing battleship to notice the pricks of damage from such a small foe. Surely its more than 300 point defense batteries would take their toll, since anything in point defense range was also well inside the range at which it was impossible to dodge a weapon moving at literally light speed.

"Detecting modifications in energy signature at these points on enemy hulls." A holographic representation of the other ships was thrown up, and the sparse points at which shots had slipped through were displayed.

"You got any idea what it is?" The Commodore didn't like any of the possibilities that sprung to his mind, but perhaps the damn machine had something better.

"Signatures not constant with any previously observed weapon. Placement of weapons at those locations deemed low probability. Theorizing locations correspond to damage on the hull."

"Well then...let's find out. You have this data for all the battleships?"

"Yes Commodore."

"Send updated targets to the rest of the fleets, highlight the supposed weak points. Even if they're not actually where shots are getting through, we're not redirecting our fire off the targets, and we might even bring down a section of their shields faster."

"Yes Commodore, transmitting now."

Throughout the small task force, turrets tracked onto locations where repairs had subtly modified the readings coming off of the ships. Agamemnon and all the Confederate ships under its command broke into a blur of motion, slamming acceleration that sent them blazing past their target as every gun that could bear on the target point released its fury, before they slipped into a carefully orchestrated pattern of maneuver that kept the fire continuous on the enemy, but allowed them to almost decide which ships took damage at any one shot from their opponents. Even with their ability to maneuver against an effectively static opponent, there were losses among the destroyers, as shots slipped past energy planes or through kinetic screens to crush through unarmored hulls and gut entire sections of the ship with laughable ease. Already there were 5 out of the fight altogether, and several more were badly damaged, but they continued to peck away at the enemy, finally receiving the release code for their main weapons systems. Targeting systems switched on, and the missiles that had been held in reserve now made their appearance. The destroyers alone vomited out 350 against their target, heavy enough that even a fraction getting through would mean devastation to a three and a half kilometer long dreadnought, much less the 2 kilometer battleships they now faced. It was simply taken as a matter of course that even a dozen gigaton range warheads were not shrugged off. And long before the first volley had reached their target, a second went out, and a third, a full thousand missiles filling the void between the destroyers and their erstwhile foe in mere seconds.

Cruisers of both class fired their own missiles, but not against the battleships, where their guns alone would eventually bring it down. Instead they used their laser warheads to target masses of enemy fighters. Each warhead had 25 bomb pumped lasers which could be independently targeted, and which would by all rights tear through armor plate on anything eventually, against fighters they were overkill of the highest order, although fighters were rarely seen in such numbers. The first volley detonated in a rippling wave as it found targets that matched its para,meters. The second wave went out with even lower parameters. They couldn't tell how many they'd killed, but with weapons like those targeting any mass of 15 or more in a 2,500 kilometer radius, it was fairly likely they'd need to lower their demands or else the next wave would be forced to target the battleships.

Finally Agamemnon itself let fly its payload. Where Cruisers targeted fighters, it acted much like its Destroyer screen, and concentrated its fire on the single target remaining to it, It had less salvo density than any of its compatriots, but it also had less tubes from which to fire. Trade offs had to be made. It followed the cruisers example, and used its laser warheads, but these powerful beams were targeting an entire battleship, with nearly no time before they were in their threat range and detonated to send stilettos of coherent energy lancing into the defenses of the battleship.

The pummeling fire of the enemy was not without its eventual toll. Shields were still dropping, but at such an alarmingly slow rate. The repair droids continued their maintenance of the Vzxlackian armored hull, the nanobots they contained sealing any serious potential breaches found. The defenses of such strange vessels were intimidating, especially when thousands of gigaton warheads met their mark against the shields and only left scarring burns on the surface of the armored hulls on four Vzxlackian battleships.

The fifth, which suffered most of the allied concentrated fire, was a different story entirely. Actual explosions appeared on the hull of the fifth battleship, and slightly rocked in space as they wracked the heavy metal surface. Once the debris cleared, only a few clear breaches of the hull could be seen; while the explosions had been great, a good 60% of the blasts had been absorbed by the shielding instead.

Simply put, the allied forces were bringing punishment to the battleships, but not enough damage was being made.

In response, the five battleships began to move into a phalanx position, the four others blocking most of the fire from the fifth while not actually hindering its own fire range against smaller opponents. Sections within the stung battleship that were breached by vacuum were quickly sealed off by bulkhead doors and blast doors. The repair droids then began moving to work on the breaches to slowly close them up... the eventual effect of this would be greatly noticed by the enemy.

While scores of Vzxlackian fighters were lost so far, their sheer initial number alone kept this from being noticed yet. Their shielding was quite poor compared to their battleship parents, but it was multitude and maneuverability alone that kept them so effective.

Scores of lightyears away, in hyperspace, the distress signal had already been received and followed. A dreadnought sped towards the scene with three more battleships following in its colossal wake. A single dreadnought alone would all be what the Vzxlackians needed to even the score, but "overkill" appeared in very large bold letters in the Vzxlackian dictionary.

OOC: A notice, I am unable to reply right now, as I am going to be gone tomorrow and Saturday for a wedding. Sorry for the holdup but I will be posting as soon as possible. I may be able to squeeze in a post in the morning, I don't know.

It was at this point that Telvith noticed a fact which hadn’t quite registered before.

“Those ships are sustaining damage! They have shields this tough, and the things leak?! This changes things considerably…”

As the Vzxlackian battleships began shifting into their phalanx, the Angori noblewoman brought up her fleet control screen. It was the work of a few seconds to designate a series of primary and secondary target points on the surface of the damaged battleship, and a few more to plan a course for her forces that would allow them to continue firing at it.

Moments later, the Angelic Gopher ships were making good use of their speed and maneuverability. Gliding on waves of controlled gravity, they swept gracefully around the blocking vessels to pour their fire into the weakest of the five enemies. With each ship concentrating its full available firepower on a spot less than a meter in diameter, even a small fraction of this energy leaking through the Vzxlackian shields might do substantial damage – and the next ship would be coming to deliver a volley before repairs could make any progress worth mentioning.

The Angori fleet, like everyone present, was taking quite a beating, but it showed few signs of damage. One of the destroyers had suffered a heavy blow when a shot from a battleship cannon had ripped across its starboard side while its battle screen was briefly down, and several ships had damaged wings, but the scout fleet was still in reasonable fighting condition. Only a handful of fighters remained, though; the Vzxlackian swarms were simply too numerous to take on with the available supply of hunters.

Meanwhile, the quick response fleet swept ever closer to the battlefield. It was having to take a somewhat roundabout course to minimize the risk of being interrupted on the way, but the Angori carriers would still be arriving quite soon.

((OOC: No problem, Telros; we understand. RL comes first. Post when you have time.

Vzxlack, I propose that we hold off on the arrival of our respective reinforcements until Telros is back. What do you say?

EDIT: Oh, and MM - I think it's your move in Nothing BAD.))

Vzxlack, I propose that we hold off on the arrival of our respective reinforcements until Telros is back. What do you say?

OOC: I'll hold.

OOC: I am back

IC: The battle waxed fiercely as Longsword fighters mixed it up with Vxzlackian fighters, missiles trails and debris filling space as explosions filled up the battlefield. Laser and plasma fire was exchanged as the hornets nest of fighters swarmed. Losses had been taken but it was at a level to be expected. Plenty of fighters remained and continuing fighting, lashing out against the Vxzlackian allies, and aiding whatever Angori fighters remained.

The fleet moved forward and began to engage. "Sir, the enemy fleet is moving to cover the damaged battleship." Hawkins narrowed his eyes.

"I see. Very well, target the one in front of it, and concentrate out fire at a single point."

"Yes sir."

The frigates and destroyers fired their MAC cannons, unleashing 63 MAC shells at the the battleships, and four energy beam projectors, massive beams of energy able to cut entire ships in two, slashed forward through space and from the fleet, dozens of heavy pulse lasers lanced out, filling space with blue beams of energy. All of this massive firepower was directed at one spot on the enemy battleship, blasting into one of the weapon arrays.

Five ships, one badly damaged. Three dimensions, all available. Some sort of...defensive formation? The Commodore couldn't help but chuckle at the attempts to shield the wounded battleship from further fire. There simply weren't enough enemy ships to block every angle of attack, and the Confederates exploited it mercilessly. Again missiles lashed from a hundred ships to flay the 5th battleship, while turrets eschewed their previous targets, turning the entirety of their fire on a single battleship, raining destruction fit to wipe clean a hundred worlds on a spot no more than 10 meters on a side. Destruction was almost guaranteed.

With the shifting of the confederate formation to engage the supposedly protected ship, it was inevitable that they would come under fire, and take losses, but it was still easy to see that the enemy weapons were not nearly powerful enough to bring them all down, even when yet another pair of destroyers faltered out of their formation, and detonated moments later.

"Adjutant, keep Command updated. I want them to find out everything they can about these bastards, and get back to me. And get someone back on my patrol route. I believe TF 34 was slated to cover a stretch nearby, have them continue their line of patrol, and request reinforcement and resupply. We're burning through missiles at an insane pace. The Destroyers are already towards the lower half of their magazines in the main part." The Commodore continued to direct the overall flow of the battle, but it was mostly up to the captains exactly how his orders were executed, and he knew better than to micromanage during a fight, so he simply controlled overall targeting and movement, and quietly inquired as to some light backup.

"Yes Commodore. Virginia is en route, with the remainder of its carrier task force and a squadron of Battlecruisers to allow your ships to fall out from the battle and replenish stores, or fall back for repairs."

"Well, that's just great then. Backup's on the way, and let's see what they think when Virginia and her carriers show them what a real navy looks like."

As Gopher and Confederate ships attempted to move in to concentrate their fire on the wounded battleship, their forces were heavily battered by cannon fire. Although there were not enough vessels to physically shield the damaged ship, there was enough enclosed weapon fire in the arrangement to make such movements practically suicidal. Still the payloads from the enemy were launched against the fifth vessel.

The concentrated fire caused more damage to the Vzxlackian battleship, a large explosion gutting a section of the lowest deck. More bulkheads and blast doors slid down within the ship to seal off the encroaching vaccuum. Though the armor had been sliced through, and the shields slowly faultering over time, the damage was mostly minimal and many of the integral operations systems still remained operational.

Telros had made an onslaught against one of the four other Vzxlackian ships that provided cover fire protection for its wounded sister ship. The formidable shields held most of the fire back, barely a scratch marring the actual armored hull of the battleship. Fire was surely returned swiftly, the battery feeling no less intense for Talros as it did for their allies.

Then not so far from the battle scene, several rifts in space opened up as four vessels dropped out of hyperspace travel. Three of them were the same design as the five Vzxlackian 2 kilometer long battleships, and the fourth was a monstrosity that drove fear in the hearts of onlookers.

It was massive... unbelievably massive. It was a beast of of a ship, boasting a 20 kilometer length bulk armed from front to back with turrets. This was the Vzxlackian dreadnought, its soul design to assault an entire planet.

Weapons systems from the new arrivals were already armed and at the ready, and took aim and began pummeling the enemy fleets. Fighters from all four of the ships were launched and swarmed the battle with their numbers. The reinforcements had arrived.

OOC: Here we go.

IC:

"Balls. Adjutant, expedite that call for backup, and prepare to relay orders." The Commodore looked slightly more grim than he had a moment ago, noting the arrival of several more ships, and one that surely qualified as a steel penis.

"Yes Commodore. Ready to relay orders. ETA Virginia and Carrier Task Force 21, plus Battlecruiser Squadron 15, 2 minutes, 55 seconds and counting."

"Very good. Fleet Orders: Fall back to my location and organize by squadrons. Ready all ships for Highland Charge. Target designated as Bogey 3, classified possible superdreadnought. Deo vindice gentlemen."

"Orders transmitted. Require Command Grade authorization for Highland Charge."

"Authorization Owens, 11762359."

"Authorization accepted. Good luck Commodore."

A ragged bunch of Cruisers and Destroyers formed up around Owens and the still mostly pristine bulk of Agamemnon. While Agamemnon was an incredibly fast ship, its escorts were faster still, and would soon put that to use. They didn't stop firing at their assigned targets, designated now by computers, and not the Commodore himself. Virginia was almost on site, it was true, but it was unlikely they could fully turn the tide without some sacrifice by the ships already on site. It was the work of but a minute to fall back from the fray and fall into their squadrons and kill their relatively low velocity. Some 80 ships scattered across a distance of a thousand kilometers, all orienting on the 20 kilometer dreadnought, and readying themselves for the slaughter about to ensue.

The continued fire on the fifth battleship eventually brought its shielding to an end and its interiors wide open. A chain reaction eventually occured as explosions rocked the ship interior from within. Within moments, the stubborn beast bellowed its last hurrah with a titanic explosion that spread on to its four guarding partners, their shields shining with bright yellow. Within a moments, the shields of the other four vessels had been significantly weakened. The area where the fifth had been was filled with a bright, white, blinding field of chaos.

The Vzxlackian dreadnought trained its numerous turrets at the approaching 80 vessels and continued its high barrage. The three battleships that had trailed behind it assumed a triangle formation on the flanks of the massive ship, their weapon fire remaining focused on the approaching fleet.

Vzxlackian fighters moved about along each divided groups of their enemies, delivering their payload in their continued, swarming wrath. Their numbers had been bolstered with the additional fighters that the dreadnought and three new battleships brought with them. The Vzxlackians felt the fight was surely even now.

Hawkins cursed when the tactical holo showed the fire hitting the Vxlackian battleship but only an insignificant amount managed to get through the shields. "Damned tough nuts to crack, dammit." The Longswords continued to battle the Vxlackian fighters and losses were heavy as even more of their fighters rushed into the fray. Around eighty fighters had been lost in the fierce mass of dogfights that were filling the space around the Miehmian ships. The ship shuddered as the counter-attack from the Vxlackian fleet slammed into their ships. "Report!"

"Shields down to 87%. Minor hull damages in sections 5 and 24. Two frigates are moderately damaged, and one destroyer has experienced a hull breach. The rest have sustained heavy shield damage but are recovering." Hawkins nodded.

"Very well. Power up energy projectors and have the frigates and destroyers-" Whatever he had planned for them was never told as at that moment, Marcus appeared.

"Sir, high priority message from HIGHCOM's main base on Earth." The Commander was stunned. Why would they be contacting him, he wasn't even high ranking? "Things must be more desperate back home than I thought."

"Show me." The holopad in front of him flickered and a message appeared.

Imperial High Command Emergency Signal, Priority 056734C-4
Encryption Code: White
Public Key: N/A
From: HIGHCOM Facility 204-Alpha
To: Battle Fleet 034, CODENAME: Cerberus
Subject: Redeployment of Naval resources
Classification: Commander Hawkins EYES ONLY.

/file-extraction-reconsitution complete/
/start file/

Due to possible problems as reported by A.I. 876541-D, CODENAME: "Derek" in Sector Alpha 334 concerning hostile activity over unknown ship, Battle Fleet Cerberus has been reassigned to suppressing hostilities and keeping the peace in Sector Alpha 334. Assets to monitor the threat that has been found in Sector Obsidian 459 will be moved. Time is of the essence and the utmost haste is required.

/end file/
/scramble-destruction process initiated/

Press ENTER to continue.

Commander Hawkins stared at the message. What kind of threat was in Sector Alpha 334 that would require an entire battle fleet to enter and keep the peace. However, orders were orders and it wasn't his place to question them. Pressing the Enter key, the message destroyed itself and he turned to the bridge crew. "Nix that last order, we have new instructions from HIGHCOM. Recall all Longsword fighters and shunt all available power to shields and the Slipspace capacitors. Marcus will provide the coordinates. Shift the fleets course to coordinates zero-five-seven-two."

The order was surprising and many made it known with wide stares and surprised mumbling, but they quickly got to work. The Longsword squadrons, after receiving the call to withdraw, let loose a final volley of missiles at the Vxlackians, to cover their withdrawal, as they streamed back into their hangar bays. The ships shields increased to the point that the ships seemed to shimmer, and they began to turn, moving away from the battle, and blue ripples appeared on the bows of the ships, a precursor to a Slipspace jump. Before they made the jump, Commander Hawkins contacted the Agamemnon.

I apologize, Commodore, but the higher ups have redeployed me elsewhere, and they are the type I can't refuse. I hate to abandon you like this, but orders are orders. Good luck in defeating these bastards. Commander Hawkins out. With that last message, the fleet disappeared in a flash, heading off to their new vector.

'I'm reading a critical spike in the Hyperdrive's heatsinks. Shit, General, they'll explode soon if we don't shut them down!' shouted the Chief Engineer of the AuBSD Naga, Woren Duzhla, into the handset of his ship-wide-radio. The engine room was heating up, fast. In a matter of seconds the technicians who toiled in the bowels of the Naga's boiler room were drenched with sweat.

Meanwhile, on the Bridge, Commander Soltek shouted terse orders to the pilot, 'Cut the fucking throttle you asshole!'. The radio operators were receiving messages from the rest of the Task Force, who were facing similar problems.

On the Command platform, Fleet General Ituenza was speaking with Chief Duzhla on the radio, trying to figure out what the problem was.

'The main engines are hosed, General.' the grizzled voice of Chief Duzhla came through the line distorted, the heat of the boiler room messing with the communications in that part of the ship.

'We're stuck in some sort of FTL dead zone, according to the Dr. Lam. It'll take us about an hour to scan the system since we're relying on LIDAR. But my gut tells me we're all alone out here.' said Ituenza, frustrated.

'That would make sense, General. From what my men are telling me all of our FTL systems are down. Communications, sensors, engines...even the showers aren't working. The worst of it is I don't have the facilities to do anything about it. We're going to need a tow back to base.' Duzhla said matter of factly.

What had originally started as Joint Maneuvers between Vascilian allies had just turned into an embarrassment for Ituenza. He was looking forward to defeating his allied colleagues in the wargames...and now they were going to have rescue them.

'Call me if you have anything new for me to hear.' Ituenza placed the handset of the radio back in its cradle, roughly.

'Order the Fleet to form a defensive perimeter. And take a survey to determine the amount of damage that has been suffered.' shouted Ituenza as he flopped into his command throne.

"What the... Admiral, sensors are detecting a large tachyon blowback dead ahead!"

"Sounds like a faster than light inhibitor field. Take us to real space before we're pulled sub-light and our drives take damage! Make sure that the rest of the fleet does the same!"


As the dreadnought Lina Inverse fell to below light speed, she broadcast warnings to the other ships in the Bryn Shanderan fleet. Fortunately, the newer ships had picked up the field long before the two Inverse class dreadnoughts and had already dropped speed. The two Bryn Shanderan fleets, lead by the dreadnoughts Lina Inverse and Shabrinigdo, were on their way to the Sadalmelik system for joint wargames. With the two dreadnoughts were the four battleships Myrkul, Shar, Velsharoon, and Cyric, as well as eight heavy cruisers, sixteen light cruisers, sixty four destroyers, forty eight frigates, and the science vessels Champlain and Cook. They were to be up against the two Aumanii Gorgon task forces and four New Havenic fleets. Unfortunately, it would seem that the wargames would have to be postponed.


"All ships accounted for and reporting in as undamaged."

"The New Havenics and Aumanii?"

"The New Havenics dropped right along side us. The Aumanii seem to have overshot. Initial scans show that they're leaking tachyons. My guess is that their drives are damaged."

"Send a message to the allied groups via signal lamps. Use the standard encryption."



... ... -.-- -..- .-.. .--. .... ..- .-.. .--. -... -.-- --.- -.- --. .. .-. -..- .-. --.- -.-- .-. -. -.- .-.. .- .- .--- ..-. ...- -.. .-.. - --- .. ..-. -.-- -.-- -..- --- -.- .-. -... -.-
..-. .- .--. --.- ...- -.- ... -.-- ... -..- -... -.-- .--. -... ... .... - ..-. .. .-. -..- .... .-.. .... .... -.. . .-.. --- .-- ..-. .--. ... .... .-.. ... --. -.--
.. -... -... .-. ...- -.- .--- -.-. .. -..- -... -.. -. ...- --- .... ..-. ...- .-. .-.. -- .... . -.- -.-. .--. ... . .... ...- ...- --- - -.-- -.--
.- -.- -.-- . --.- .--. -..- -.-- --.- -..- ...- --. --. ...- -.-- -- .-- --. --- --.. -.. --. . .... ..-. .... .-- .-.. ..-. .. .-.. -.- - -.-- .... .--. -. --- .. .-.. --.. .--. --. .
-.-- .- .--. ..-. .-.. .--. --.. -.-- --.- .--- ... --- -... ...- ... -.-- ....

4 Myrkuls, 16 Achilles, 24 Suiseisekis, 48 Trondheims, and 56 Kusanagis of the First, Third, Fourth and Fifth New Havenic Fleets exited hyperspace automatically after the tachyon reflection was first detected.

"Report! Why did we drop from hyperspace?" Grand Admiral Peterson of the Flagship I.N.H.V. Zeus demanded.

"The Tachyon Detection Grid detected a blowback of particles eminating from our own wake," Ensign Bartlet reported. "All ships automatically dropped from hyperspace to avoid damage."

"Aren't blowbacks caused by artificial FTLi sources?" Peterson asked.

"Not unless we're in close proximity to some kind of invisible neutron star," Ensign Bartlet replied as she adjusted a few switches. "Engineering reporting that the hyperspace drive is still operational."

"Sir, we're getting a signal from the Shanderan fleet on standard encyrption," The Senior Communications Officer reported as he handed the Grand Admiral the message.

"SCO, order the fleet to form a flanking multi-fleet pinwheel formation around us and take us into position alongside the Inverse's formation... this couldn't of come at a worse time," The Grand Admiral stated as he lit a cigarette and reached for the flask he kept in his pocket.

"What's the situation, Admiral?" Commander Franks, XO of the Zeus, asked.

"Some asshole decided to drop an inhibitor field here in the middle of nowhere just as we happened to come along," The Admiral said as he took a sip from the flask and put it back in his jacket as he waved to the SCO once more. "Signal all ships to go to full tactical alert and notify Imperial Fleet Command that we are doing so. Request a Condition Red-Three due to possible localized hostilities... and let them know theres a navigational hazard in this sector, for the sake of the gods!"

"Sir, messages coming in from all ships that they have received our transmission and they are at full combat alert. Minovsky Effect is being confirmed by all ships and we are using our Visible Light Communications Array as well as the Ultraviolet Tightbeam Array."

"Very well," The Admiral said. "Launch fighters and mobile suits for combat duty and get the wavefronts on the catapults. I don't want to be caught out here with our pants down."

"Yes, sir!"

OOC: OK, this is starting to get kinda crowded. Everyone who is already present, you're in. Anyone else who wants to join, either get OOC permission here, in the OOC Thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=528230), or by TG, or else wait until this particular episode is over and things quiet down a bit.

IC post coming soon - I have to take all the new arrivals into account.

~~Before the unexpected arrivals~~

The fight was certainly closer to even, and perhaps even tilted in the Vzxlackians favor.

It would not remain so long; the Angori carriers had almost arrived.

When the Vzxlackian reinforcements dropped into realspace, Lady Telvith focused her view screen on the massive dreadnought, zoomed in, and stared at it for a moment. Then she burst out laughing.

“Ahahahahahaha!!! An order of magnitude larger than their battleships… that’s obviously supposed to be a ‘shock and awe’ vessel! Hehehe, you can be sure they’d never seen a Demgori dread when they built that monstrosity!”

“Though, with the shielding these things carry, it might be able to give one a bit of a fight.” She added more grimly. “It’s certainly going to mean trouble for us”

As if to punctuate her statement, a shot from the 20 km dreadnought slammed into an Angori light cruiser that had lost virtually all of its shielding to the swarming Vzxlackian fighters. The bolt of searing plasma brushed aside the cruiser’s remaining scrap of battle screen like tissue paper and blasted right through the control room. Its power core remained intact, but the entire front end of the vessel was destroyed, most of the crew was killed outright, and the ship was completely disabled. Of the Angelic Gopher scout fleet, only Telvith’s battle cruiser remained entirely undamaged, and its screens were dim. The Angori presence in this battle seemed unlikely to last much longer.

Then, out of nowhere, the armada showed up. Lady Telvith shifted the view on her screen about, staring at the newcomers in puzzlement.

“Where in Kregor’s name did this lot come from?!”

It was a sign of Telvith’s own feelings that she did not stamp down on this uncharacteristic outburst from a member of her crew.

“More importantly, what are they going to do? Get Enderis on the Com at once!”


“We are traveling as quickly as is reasonable, Lady Telvith.”

“I know that! Additional forces just arrived, affiliation and purpose unknown. We can’t afford to waste time, but I thought you should be informed of their presence in advance.”

“Ah, I see. A shall exercise appropriate caution…”


It was mere seconds after this response that the carriers arrived.

They stopped a little under a light hour away from the FTLi zone – six rather crude looking ships, each little more than an enormous skimmer drive with a control center and a framework to connect to the vessels it was carrying. They bore neither weapons nor armor, and only light shielding, but they were more than six kilometers long, and could transport a very respectable force.

First to deploy were the battleships, the core of the Angori navy. They weren’t especially large, as battleships went – roughly one kilometer in length. They were swift and maneuverable, though; even more so than their size would suggest. There were also 120 of them, four rows of five on each of the six carriers. If an Angelic Gopher carrier was forced to fight a running battle, it was the shields of its battleships that would protect it, and their weapons which would return fire. They would not fight alone in this battle, though. They were followed by 540 assorted cruisers, some 300 or so destroyers, and clouds of the lethal Angori heavy fighters.

In the Vzxlackian dictionary, ‘overkill’ is written in bold. The native language of the Angori has no word for it at all.

Space is always at a premium on the smallish Angelic Gopher warships, and they generally carry few missiles or torpedoes. Those they do carry are not to be trifled with. The Angori glider drive is actually faster than the skimmer for small vessels, but it requires frequent and expensive maintenance, and is less effective for high-mass vessels. Because of these difficulties, it is only in common usage for scout ships, although a few private vessels are equipped with it. Maintenance costs are not an issue, however, for single use torpedoes. The majority of the missiles carried by Angori warships are five meter FTL torpedoes, and carry power cores more potent then those within the 20 meter scouts; missiles have no need for supplies, communication equipment, or crew quarters, and can devote a considerably higher percentage of their volume to energy storage.

Four hundred and eighty three such torpedoes flashed out from the Angelic Gopher fleet in a green blur. It took them no more than the blink of an eye to reach the Confederate FTLi field, where they were snatched instantly back below light speed – most of them moving about 0.8 c. In this brief moment, however, they had spread to form a rough semisphere, centered on the closest of the Vzxlackian battleships. The Angori battleships were right behind them, ready to open fire with energy cannons at once if this volley did not cripple its target. As they reached the inhibitor zone, one of them broadcast a message at high power on all standard communication frequencies.

-“Your decision to attack a peaceful scouting expedition without warning and refuse all efforts to negotiate was ill-made. That you chose to carry out this plan on our peaceful scouts does not improve it. Cease fire swiftly, or your destruction is guaranteed.”-

A second message was sent on a narrower beam to each fleet of newcomers.

-“Unknown ships, please identify yourselves and state your intentions. We are somewhat nervous about strangers at the moment.”-

OOC: Just to clarify matters, this is happening just within Confederate borders, correct?

The continued fire on the fifth battleship eventually brought its shielding to an end and its interiors wide open. A chain reaction eventually occured as explosions rocked the ship interior from within. Within moments, the stubborn beast bellowed its last hurrah with a titanic explosion that spread on to its four guarding partners, their shields shining with bright yellow. Within a moments, the shields of the other four vessels had been significantly weakened. The area where the fifth had been was filled with a bright, white, blinding field of chaos.

The Vzxlackian dreadnought trained its numerous turrets at the approaching 80 vessels and continued its high barrage. The three battleships that had trailed behind it assumed a triangle formation on the flanks of the massive ship, their weapon fire remaining focused on the approaching fleet.

Vzxlackian fighters moved about along each divided groups of their enemies, delivering their payload in their continued, swarming wrath. Their numbers had been bolstered with the additional fighters that the dreadnought and three new battleships brought with them. The Vzxlackians felt the fight was surely even now.

The Vzxlackians were sorely mistaken. Ships shuddered and their drives failed, but that didn't matter. In mere seconds the task force had reach cfractional velocities. They were as good as dead anyway as long as that dreadnought was in commission, so, they did the only thing they could. 80 ships started the charge, and by the time the third volley had crashed out from the Vzxlackian guns, there were only thirty left under power. But, the remaining 50 weren't harmless. Far from it. 50 assorted Destroyers, Light, and Heavy Cruisers screaming in at .5c. Fast enough that even a glancing impact with one of the twisted hulks would spell annihilation for a planet. And if their Battleships were any indication, the dreadnought was not going to have nearly enough time to dodge. The survivors, a slightly more battered Agamemnon among them, peeled off rapidly, abandoning their doomed comrades, and generating as much delta v as possible, to get out of what would surely be an impressive, and fairly all consuming blast radius.

"Commodore, more bad news. While the destruction of the ship is almost assured, TF 77 is no longer combat effective. Furthermore, I've detected 3 further emergences almost simultaneously. Profiles are unknown, but the signatures are all different, suggesting neither enemy nor allied origin."

"I'm aware of that. Virginia will be here. We've done our duty. Order the remaining ships to fall back, and rendezvous at Titan Base. We'll figure things out from there. ETA Virginia and the Carriers?"

"Seven seconds Commodore. Estimated time until all TF 77 units are extracted: 3 minutes, 15 seconds to clear the near fringe of the FTLi barrier."

"Very well, once Virginia is on station, cede command to Admiral Richards, and fall back." Some of the crushing tiredness that had entered the Commodore's eyes ever since he had ordered his men to start what he knew was going to be a suicide run finally lifted. Even while he had been speaking, help had arrived. Resplendent in black and silver, the 4 and a half kilometer bulk of Virginia was an intimidating sight.

Virginia was one of 2 Terran Superdreadnoughts, part of Korpulu's contribution to the Confederate Navy, and one of only ten vessels of its class. Sporting massive 750 cm Graser Turrets, and rank upon rank of missile batteries, it had been designed as an assault class. Minimal troop transport capability, oversized power systems, and heavier armor made it more suited to devastating fleets than to dropping armies from orbit, and as it appeared, things turned ugly for the Vzxlackians.

Before, they had had almost total parasite superiority, now, with 6 massive fleet carriers, and a further dozen escort carriers coming in on the side of the Confederates, things were tipped well in the other direction. Fleet footed Corsair Interceptors and Phoenix Fighters spewed from hangars, and before the entire deployment had finished, the numbers were already well out of balance. The Vzxlackians had started with about 6,000(wild guess accounting for losses, etc), by the time the Carriers were finished, there were well over ten thousand Confederate fighters in play, and slightly less than half of those were Corsairs, fast and agile, designed to take out enemy parasites while surviving fairly well. Then there were the Phoenixes, bigger, a tad slower, and much heavier, they existed to fill a roll only ambiguously stated in the Confederate operations manual. Configured for assault, they were more than capable of employing capitol ship grade weapons in numbers enough to crush most any target they selected, configured for superiority, the few heavy missiles were replaced with numerous smaller anti-fighter weapons, giving them an arsenal to rip through smaller squadrons with ease. The press was on, and the Confederates were more than ready.

Following hard on the heels of the Carriers, and their Cruiser escort, a dozen ships appeared, and formed up around the Superdfreadnought. Superficially, they might have been a smaller battleship class, perhaps a little older, a little less heavily armed. In truth, they were Battlecruisers, the Confederacy's age old solution to mobile warfare, fast and deadly, they were armed like their larger brethren, less heavily armored, and fast enough to catch almost anything. Battlecruisers had long been the bane of Terrans enemies, and now the Vzxlackians would learn why.

OOC: Just so our "guests", and I use that term loosely with those 3, are aware, everybody in the battle can see you. You're RIGHT THE FUCK THERE(R). By the same token, you can see us, because we're RIGHT THE FUCK THERE(R). They've also lit off a half a dozen warning beacons along the border. What this means for us is that every patrol unit within a fair distance is now converging on Commodore Owens, Admiral Richards, and the Vzxlackians. That takes us from the 60 odd ships engaged now, up past 300, with the remainder trickling in over the next 2-3 hours.

OOC: Actually if you paid attention to my ship specs, dreadnoughts come with 20,000 fighters. So there's now (counting estimated losses) probably 26,000 of the little needle-shaped bastards.

IC:

The four battleships remaining from the original scuffle had suffered immense damage to their shields when their sister had detonated in a blinding flash which was still boiling in the center of the FTLi field. So when the Angori armada jumped into the area and opened fire on them, suffered damages were extended. The four vessels had been moving apart from each other as a cautionary measure to not get into each other's possible destructive blast radius again, and one appeared to have engines fail and enter drift as cause of Gopher fire.

Aboard the dreadnought, the command crew peered in puzzlement as the huge wave of Confederate ships were hurtling toward it. While the dreadnought and the three protective battleships around it had been blasting apart what they could, the ships still came rushing towards them.

"[Continued trajectory analyzed suggests that impact is assured,]" stated one of the numerous insectoid creatures that filled the bridge.

"[This tactic is ludicrous,]" hissed the commander, claws gripping the rests on its steely, spartan chair. "[Surely the fools realize that they waste lives and resources by ramming us....]"

"[Impact incoming... three... two... one...]"

"[Brace yourselves!]"

Numerous pounding explosions rocked the dreadnought and its shields, bringing about serious racking punishment. The Vzxlackians, while not unfamiliar with killing their wounded, were in utter disbelief at such a waste of life.

"[Shields are 80%...]"

More pounding as the lemmings came into their deaths.

"[56%....]"

More ships destroyed themselves against the dreadnought.

"[42%....]"

"[ENOUGH OF THIS!!]" the commander buzzed and clicked in ferocity. "[Fire off the planet crushers before there's nothing of us left!]"

"[Yes, commander.]"

With that, the Vzxlackian dreadnough began emptying out a payload of three planet crusher bombs from its torpedo tubes. The bombs had a nine hundred gigaton yield each, assuring the premature destruction of the onrushing wave of lemming Confederate ships.

The ship drifted lazily along, its 'crew' contemplating the stars and nebulae while the cartographic scanners generated a proper model of the vicinity. It was difficult to remember the time when they were once human, as the very concept of being tied to a single body seemed infinitely too restraining for the Godulans now.

It was a large ship, being a newly designed vessel named after artillery emplacements from Godulan Terra, though by no means as grand and awe inspiring as a Slaughterstar. Their mission through this stretch of the galaxy was to chart maps for safe travel through various portions of the interstellar void. Between insectoids with the relative disposition of an angry warthog and the off chance that a gravimetric perturbations might serve to maneuver a black hole into a tremendously inopportune spot.

Sure, Godulans could bypass obstacles entirely with a probability jump, but one thing the Godulans prided themselves on was the ability to have contingency plans in place for even the most improbable situations.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hate this place. The space itself feels so... dirty. I might actually take a shower when we finish just so I can feel clean again.

Oh, I dunno, it seems quite scenic to me. At least out here in the interstellar void, communication and ship traffic is at a minimum so it is easy enough to tune out.

I still hate this place... hello...

Hello? Good hello or bad hello?

Deep scans just caught what looks like the edge of an inhibitor field... cartographic scans suggest that the thing is smack dab in the middle of nowhere.

Well, that rules out planetary defense right quick, doesn't it. Ambush?

I bet its pirates.

Bet on it?

With what?

If I win we're listening to Bluegrass for the rest of the trip.

Oh hell no. If you're wrong its gonna be Heavy Metal until we're done with this whole thing.

What if its an ambush on pirates?

Dueling banjos with electric guitar?

I would almost want to hear that out of curiosity... there is one?

Oh there's tons... shall we go see?

Indeed. Alright you lot, who's taking care of the probability calculations?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so it was that but a few moments later, a single Godulan Gun of Archona materialized a small distance inside the boundary of the inhibitor field, whereupon it immediately got clipped by a couple mass driver shells. The impact generated an amusing cascade of light and spatial warping as the shell obliterated itself in the impact.

Deep scans started within a microsecond, painting a thoroughly confusing picture of carnage and mayhem not even a few light minutes away.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Um... the only ships I recognize are the Terran vessels and those from preliminary pictures of those angry bugs we passed by before. The rest... I dunno...

Look at the size of that fleet over there. You see the power readings on those sumbitches?

Whoa.

I say we're both wrong on our bet.

Agreed.

Keep a low profile?

Yah. Minimize power output, and see if we can mask our scanning profile a bit. Who here knows how to be an asteroid? We need a specialist!

The Angelic Gopher battleships were wheeling towards the next damaged Vzxlackian vessel when sensors detected the launch of the trio of planet crushers. The difference between these and the standard Vzxlackian missiles was obvious.

Alarms went off throughout the Angori fleet - "Ultra-heavy torpedo launch detected - possible fleet killer."

"Fall back! The fleet shall fall back, clear of the potential blast zone." Lord Enderis ordered. Battleships, fighters, and the battered remnant of the scout fleet alike swirled out of the midst of the battle and headed for the closest edge.

OOC: Bah, short boring little post. Sorry about that.

'Fleet General, Cerberus actual.' said the radioman of Fleet General Hardok Tyz'Juan as he passed the handset to him.

'Lyboc, calling to surrender so soon?' laughed Tyz'Juan, ignorant of what was going on. The AuBSD Minotaur along with her sister ships had arrived at the location of the wargames, several weeks before the others, to prepare. Tyz'Juan and Fleet General Lyboc were the supreme commanders of their Battlegroups, named CONDIV and GROPATK respectively.

'We've run into some problems en route, Tyz'Juan, so it seems you're still going to get trashed by us.' quipped Fleet General Lyboc, lightly. The situation for the Vascilians didn't seem critical at the moment.

'Oh yeah? Let's hear it.' said Tyz'Juan.

'Task Force Naga has sustained some damage and are in need of rescue. The Havenics are telling us that some sort of faster-than-light inhibitor is in place. Ituenza didn't see it in time and now he's dead in the water. Chief Engineer Buledeaux is telling me that running into a countermeasure such as this at full speed is like running into a brick wall, as far as their engines and electronics are concerned.' Lyboc explained the situation, Tyz'Juan was grinning like a Hyena on the other end of the line.

'Well, that's Ituenza for you, never looking where he's stepping. Except this time he's stepped in a big pile of shit!' said Tyz'Juan, roaring with laughter.

'Also, there's a battle going on in the area, we doubt Naga knows this. The "FTLi" field is being emitted by one of the forces engaged in that battle. Before I try to raise them, I want you to be ready to back us up if it comes to a brawl. You got the rest of the Gorgons with you, Tyz'Juan?' Lyboc was speaking casually and with a hint of boredom.

'What Gorgons?' said Tyz'Juan, thinking that this might just be some elaborate trick to get him to reveal his fleet strength.

Lyboc laughed and said 'Right. Well, just be sure to come if we call...I'm not joking around and this isn't a trap.'

'Very well then. Is that all?' asked Fleet General Tyz'Juan, wishing to conclude the call.

'Yes. Good hunting.' said Lyboc.

'Good hunting.' returned Tyz'Juan before passing the handset back to his radioman.

----

Lyboc stood in conference with his Executive Officer, Commander Suvla, and his Comander Air Group, Fleet Captain Kluft. 'Well, I hope to have this over with before I start my lunch, Commander.' Lyboc said. Commander Suvla, with his face as bland and expressionless as usual, said 'It all depends. We need these primitives to shut off that damned FTLi.'

Kluft, with his good humoured sarcasm, said 'Well, I'm sure if we ask politely enough, they'll go right head and do it!'

'If the cavemen have any respect.' returned Suvla, dryly.

'I've ordered the Radioman try to contact the source of the countermeasure. I've also spoken to Prince Xiloscient and Admiral Peterson, if these apes refuse they are prepared to help us in changing their minds. Task Force Gorgon is moving into position to relieve Naga and Cerberus shall provide fighter groups to stall any moves by the Aggressor Fleets.' explained Fleet General Lyboc in detail.

----

The Radioman of the AuBSD Cerberus fired a request to the Miehmish Destroyers on a tightbeam laser frequency. Hopefully they would be able to decipher the Aumanii dialect and relent to the orders given peacefully...

'Unknown Fleets. Cease action immediately and surrender the battlespace. You will only be asked once. If you fail to relent to our orders, action will be taken to defend ourselves.'

Aboard the Allanean Battlefleet

"Sir, this is not the wargames coordinate! We have been supposed to rendezvous with the Aumanii elsewhere!"

"What the fuck do you mean, elsewhere?"

"Look. The original coordinates for the wargames are FGD-4554-FFA, and not FFF-5555-99O. We're in the wrong place in the wrong time. And it can't be a navigation system error."

"Why?"

"Because this battleship uses sixteen separate navigational computers using Kubuntu, Kontiki, SuSE, Freespire, Redhat and FreedomSuSE, as wells as ten other operating system distros. They simply can't all be wrong."

"So what happened? Aren't we supposed to be going ot the wargames…"

"Yes. But…"

The FTLi detector flashed red.

"Oh holy mother of god, what is that!" – panicked the ensign.

"We hit FTLi. That explains why we didn't end up at the rendezvous point."

"Shit. I wonder if the same thing happened to the Aumanii."

"Scan the area. Let's find out."

In the meanwhile, the battlegroup, comprised of various classes of ships – about 200 major combatants, and literally thousands of smallcraft, dozens of thousands of robotic fighter craft, and 40 cargo ships, had begun to spread out in a gigantic wedge formation. At it's tip was the USS Gruesome, at the other angles battleships Ferocious and Bloodthirsty. The cargo ships were in the middle, protected by the new Porcupines from missile fire and fighters.

"Sir, Miehmish, Aumanii, Shanderian vessels detected! Godularian vessel detected! Also an unidentified large vessel at coordinate DFD-44! Furthermore unknown armada at..."

"Holy fucking testicles of Helm!" –breathed the Admiral – "We've jumped in on a real motherfucking war, have we? Ship computer, give me a tactical analysis of what is going on, stat. I wish to know whom the Miehmians are fighting."

"The big unidentified ship thing. No idea whose it is. They sure ain't on Godular's side or ours, anyway."

"Well, then. " – he flicked the microphone on.

Men! We came for war games. But we found real war. Even now as I speak, the foul Miehmians are here, defiling the pristine emptiness of space with their presence. They are enemies of our allies the Godlarians, and of the entire Extra-Solar Union. They are enemies of freedom itself. There is fifty of their ships, and two hundred forty of ours. The question is, Freemen – are you ready for real war?"

"YES!" – barked thousands of sailors.

"Are you ready to kill?"

"YES!"

"Then let's go kill them!"

"YESS!"

Seconds later, the Allanean ships began to fire.

At first, a simple manoever to test the strength of the enemy – different ships launched a salvo of light anti-ship missiles – about 1,000 from each battleship, 100 from each destroyer, 3,000 from every missile cruiser. In total, the Allaneans have unleashed a salvo of 87,000 of their cheapers and least effective anti-ship weapons.

But the thing was, this salvo was not spread out evenly among the enemy navy.

It was concentraded merely on 5 randomly-chosen ships, which had been targeted with approximately even amounts of rounds,

[i]Let's see how they hold up to this and plan from there.

New entrants.

Hostile?

Negative. Same apparent entry vector as the other three fleets that are shooting at the Miehmish vessels. Ship profiling registers a hit... we have... Allanean.

The overlink burst into a flurry of HUPHUPHUPHUPHUPHUPHUPping and the Gun of Archona came about and began to move towards the Allanean fleet, taking a roundabout path above the battlezone ecliptic to avoid the majority of the combat. The gunship altered its form into a more angular and combat-ready configuration, lengthening slightly and reducing its forward targeting profile.

Dawnrunner combat config established.

Send comms to the Allanean fleet. We will have to support them in whatever actions they take. Say goodbye to our observational stance.

Poo.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ship transmitted a single comms query to the Allanean fleet:

Allanean Fleet:

Are you with those other fleets that came in? Would you care to identify for future reference? Ship profiling does not recognize them so we would like to properly designate them.

Also: Requesting information regarding intent. If you start shooting at somebody, we will assist, though we were hoping to avoid participation in the battle.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of course, when the missiles were spotted, all doubt was cast aside, and the maneuver presently underway was converted into establishing a proper firing position...

OOC: OK, this is starting to get kinda crowded. Everyone who is already present, you're in. Anyone else who wants to join, either get OOC permission here, in the OOC Thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=528230), or by TG, or else wait until this particular episode is over and things quiet down a bit.

Pause a minute and let's go to the OOC thread. I want to discuss this whole situation a bit...

OOC: edited

Three of the oncoming destroyers winked from existence as the so called planet crushers detonated. A further trio was caught on the fringes, but remained arguably intact, or at least retained enough mass to still crush nearly anything they hit. But, the most important part was the mistake the Vzxlackians made when they launched weapons of ridiculous size. The range was SHORT, very short. The Dreadnought would catch the fringes of every one of its own attacks, as well as the crushing impacts of the Confederate ships. There was a reason the Confederates eschewed such large yield devices as those.

"Admiral, there are even more of them, Allaneans have opened fire, unidentified ships demanding surrender. Response?"

"Point defense to full automatic, weapons free. Secondary battery free to engage targets of opportunity, with a priority on missiles at the moment. Main guns to engage primary targets, fleet to launch countermissile canisters, and all ships possible to take evasive action. Recall Owens immediately, and send out a report. We don't just have an isolated incident, the fuckers were bait for an entire invasion. Call the fleet. Vascillians and Extra Solars detected in strength, TF77 and 34 engaging with all available force, chance of victory deemed minimal. Chance of survival deemed minimal. Chance of mission kill or crippling losses to enemy fleet deemed worth losses. Fleet Case Delta, all fleet elements directed to this location at best speed. Transmit the orders sailor." The gargantuan man in the flag officers chair on the bridge looked fairly grim. He was ordering his entire command into a desperate and likely unwinnable battle. And not only his command, but nearly 300 more ships scattered in the immediate vicinity, able to respond before the battle was definitively over.

"Aye sir, transmission sent, orders relayed to all commands. Owens confirms receipt of orders and intent to comply. Receiving signals from TF 36, 27, 42 acknowledging orders, ETAs 20 minutes, 45, 72. Command confirms case Delta, all available fleet elements en route, ETA unknown."

"Very well, prepare the cannon. If it becomes necessary to fire, I am certain that we will want it ready."

Task Force 34 was not by any means a light task force, with enough firepower to make some fleets take pause and more support on the way, the embattled ships would surely bloody this mad invasion. Laser stilettos swatted aside missiles, and secondary batteries swept swaths through the swarm, while countermissiles screamed out to immolate themselves and incoming attackers. The range was towards the long edge of middling, and more than 70% were destroyed before they got anywhere near the fleet. The remaining 26,000 odd missiles immolated themselves fairly harmlessly against the shields of the Confederate Battlecruisers that bore the majority of the fire. They were swift ships, and they had sacrificed armor for speed, but they had also had the foresight to take advantage of the more powerful reactors needed to get the sped they created, and they had shields of ships many times their size to compensate for their weaknesses.

As the last missiles flared and died against shields or were blasted into oblivion by Confederate guns, weapons reoriented themselves to target the hostile fools. A swarm of missiles, significantly smaller than that which they had just mowed down, but also hopefully more effective when their standoff range warheads detonated to belch lances of laser energy in a dense spray, generally capable of perforating many small targets, or one larger vessel given time. Grasers retargeted towards the ships that had so foolishly assaulted them, and invisible tongues of laser energy reached out to claw at shields and shatter hulls in a flurry of devastation, as fighters swarmed about their Vzxlackian opponents, letting fly with missiles and beam weaponry to devastate their targets.

Oweens and his beleagured taskforce actually caught the remaning wash of rounds from the Allaneans, and their fury was unleashed, even as another heavy cruiser staggered and dropped out of formation from the damage it had suffered from the remainder if the Allanean volley. There was no point calling upon them surrender. They had gone too far, as soon as he first missile crossed the void, the hasty Allaneans had once again committed themselves to a course of folly and dambnation.

Silent explosions filled the field of vision around the Vzxlackian dreadnought after the three planet crushers went off and the last lemming kamikaze ships surrendered themselves to inevitable death as they tried to destroy their enemy. When the smoke had figuratively cleared from the area, the behemoth of a dreadnought still remained, but looking quite worse for wear. This was not how the conflict was supposed to have occured, the dreadnought unplanned to be damaged this soon in the battle. Its once pristine armored hull now sported warped alloys and burns that lessened its intimidating figure. The shields, as scans would reveal, were incredibly low in power now.

The commander aboard the dreadnought did not appear pleased. Already numerous electrical fires had erupted on several decks, orders placed for them to be immediately quenched and damages repaired. Repair droids worked overtime as they scrambled throughout the ship and its exterior to correct the vessel's damaged systems.

"[Shield status,]" buzzed the commander.

"[Nine percent,] replied a technician, confirming the dreadnought had barely survived destruction. It would now not be prudent for the dreadnought to approach the ranges of their enemies' more destructive weapons. The planet crushers had just saved them from certain destruction.

"[Maintain distance,]" the commander ordered.

"[Commander,]" another technician, seated at the deep space readouts, clicked for attention. "[Scanners indicate that other fleets have arrived in the area and engaged combat with these KHAN-FED-IR-RAT leeches. While our mighty dreadnought is fearfully wounded, tables may have turned in our favor in any case.]"

"[Indeed... send out an order to all ships to not engage those that assault our enemy. Take advantage of their presence instead. Meanwhile...]" The commander turned its attention back to the shield readouts. "[Divert all nonessential power functions to recharging our shields. Nine percent is too thin a wall....]"

So as the dreadnought maintained its distance to lick at its wounds, the three battleships it brought with it moved forward to enter the fray. They would join the other remaining four battleships, one currently trying to repair damaged engines. Fighter swarms, counting over 26,000 in number, continued their assault on Angori and Confederate vessels. Skirmishes with enemy fighters were not uncommon now with the arrival of the 10,000 belonging to the Confederate forces.

"Incoming tachyon pressure wave! It's a big one!"

"More ships are coming? Is it the OpFor group?"

"No, much too small for that."

"Ships have dropped out of FTL some ten thousand kilometers to port. They look Allanean."

"What the hell are those dogfuckers doing here?!"

"...They're firing on one of the combatants in the battle."

"Sir, recieving transmission from the Aumanii fleet. Apparently the ships that the Allaneans just fired on are the source of the FTLi. The Aumanii have recieved no response to their request for a peaceful solu--"

"They're shooting at us!"

"What!?"

"I guess that would be the response. Sound general quarters! Prepare to vent the atmosphere in sixty seconds! Scramble strike craft!"

As the alarms and lights began to sound and flash, the crew scrambled to get their combat space suits on as fast as possible. They made their way to suit lockers placed in the passages at regular intervals and quickly jumped into the suits and put on the helmets. Then they all shot down the halls to their battle stations. As ordered, the atmosphere began to vent into space sixty seconds after general quarters was sounded to prevent explosive decompression. Mean while, random stray shots impacted the shields of several of the larger ships in the fleet, causing no damage and only superficially affecting the shields.

On the hangar decks throughout the fleet, fighters were quickly armed and fired from the catapults by the hundreds. The first waves were FF-02 Sparrowhawks, space superiority fighters armed with anti-fighter missiles and light rapidfiring megaparticle guns. Following the Sparrowhawks were the heavier FA-01 Goshawks, attack fighters packing more powerful megaparticle cannons and eight anti-ship torpedoes each. When all was said and done, there would be a combined total of 14,184 fighters and 6,992 mobile suits launched.


"All ships reporting atmospheres vented. We're recieving requests from all ships for permission to open fire."

"Signal the fleet to hold fire until ordered. Then signal the Aumanii and New Havinics."


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"Message coming from the Shanderan fleet," the SCO reported as he handed the Grand Admiral a translated version of the message. The Admiral quickly read the message and turned to the SCO.

"Message our ships to prepare for an immediate attack and vent the atmosphere for the sake of the gods!" The Grand Admiral ordered. "This is no fucking drill!" When the message was effectively retransmitted to the fleet, all of the Havenic battleships, cruisers, destroyers and frigates turned to prepare their attack. The spinal mounts and main guns prepared to unleash a volley of fire as soon as they were cleared to do so. Around that time, enemy fire began sporadically peppering the shields but causing no appreciable worry.

"Grand Admiral, all 11,588 fighters and 5,094 mobile suits have been launched," the Fleet Coordination Officer reported from her desk in the Communications room.

"Very well, now we wait for the Aumanii ships to begin our move..."

"Attention all quarters, we have a situation, cruisers Nefarious and Monstrous damaged, cruiser Angsty Fursuiter retiring from battle due to extreme battle damage, requesting immediate assistance. I am diverting rescue crews to it's location. Furthermore, I request immediate fire support to locations six-five-one-alpha and five-five-five-lambda, fire on my mark."

The Porcupine Mark II cruiser is a wonderful piece of work. It has no crew space – all of it is taken up by gun turrets for energy weapons and kinetic non-chemenergic guns, and these weapons' ammunition storage and reactors.

Crew space in the entire 750-meter ship is limited to a single coffin-shaped location, where only one man lies. His eyes are closed, and yet he sees. His nervous system is re-rigged to accept plug-in wires, enabling him to control the 1,256 weapon systems of the Porcupine alone with his very mind.

The majority of these weapons are semi-autonomous CIWS systems. They flare up, lighting the entire are up with explosions as thousands of missiles are intercepted. The Allanean fleet had 20 Porcupines – and they did their jobs like clockwork.

But this was not all the Porcupines could do. The main gun of the Porcupine is a gigantic 300mm gatling cannon, running half the length of the ship. In it's most powerful setting, it functions like giant automatic Hellbore, causing what amounts to 2.5 megaton explosions at the point of impact. The rate of fire, though, is an amazing 600 rounds per minute, capable of slowly punching through the mightiest of shields. All twenty of these weapons were focused on the flagship of the Miehmish fleet.

And in the meanwhile, the other Allanean vessels were also doing their work. The Wrath-class battleships focused their impressive beam weapon arrays on the Miehmish battleships – hundreds of plasma cannon, thousands of light multi-mode cannon set to fire Xazers.

But that was not everything.

From the Allanean command ships, five small, ancient, broken-down junk cargo ships launched towards the Miehmish fleet, aimed at five ships chosen by the Allaneans. Seconds later, they began to break up – the Allaneans have planted small explosive charged in key points of the ship hulls.

And then the five Miehmish ships were spammed by thousands – nay, millions – of ordinary tradesmen's bricks, moving at about 0.3 of the speed of light.

Dodge this.

'We're taking fire, Fleet General!' proclaimed Commander Soltek without the slightest hint of distress in his voice. Any break in the demeanor of the command staff would result in the destruction of the Fleet's morale.

Fleet General Ituenza buckled himself into his Command Throne and adjusted a view screen on the arm so he could read a coded transmission. Point defense cannons, 105mm guns that dotted the hull of AuBSD Naga fired rapidly. White hot shells streaked out to meet incoming missiles that were missed by the slower firing, shorter ranged, lasers.

'Fleet missile batteries are fully operational, Fleet General. However, there are still issues with the Battleships...' Commander Soltek was interrupted abruptly by an impact against the shields.

'Target the Flagships and respond with a timed missile barrage, Grabacr Deployment scheme.' said Ituenza as he typed a response back to his Vascilian allies.

The Grabacr deployment involved waves of Gravitic Implosion warheads being employed in an ever encroaching screen of detonations. The Gravitic warhead should at the very least draw kinetic shells and missiles off course, refract light such as lasers and other similar beam weapons and generally make a mess out of any generated angles of fire. The staggered deployment of these weapons, fired from rapidly firing missile launchers that are capable of spitting out twenty missiles a second, from the fleet should gradually reduce the range of the enemy and eventually, the Gravitic warheads would impact the enemy shields and allow for follow up strikes with more dedicated anti-shielding and anti-armour weapons.

'Scramble Fighters. Have our CAG coordinate with our allies and effectively bring about strikes against the enemy.' said Ituenza, his heart pounding in his chest. This was the first time a Gorgon had been in a real fight and it was his honour to be the first commander to lead one into battle.

-----

'Naga's engaging the enemy, Fleet General!' said Commander Suvla.

'Very well. Engage missile batteries!' responded Lyboc tersely.

The massive launchers of the Cerberus, Chimera and their Fleets fired upon the Miehmish Flagships and deployed the same scheme of missile barrage as Naga. However, since Cerberus and the Chimera deployed to compliment the stranded Task Force Naga, fire was now pouring onto the enemy from numerous angles, hopefully taxing their point defenses.

15,540 Fighters, in waves, would attempt to flank and destroy enemy destroyers emitting the FTLi with anti-shipping missiles. Drone missiles that can operate independent of pilot control...though, best deployed at close range.

The newcomers had not yet opened fire upon Angori vessels. It was not yet clear if this was a simple oversight or intentional, but either way, they were a less immediate threat than the formidable Vzxlackian vessels.

Besides, Angelic Gophers have a sense for blood in the water that makes sharks look unobservant indeed…

Several fighters that failed to get clear of the blast quickly enough were destroyed by the Vzklackian planet crushers, and three Angori battleships took severe blows to their shielding, but the fleet came through the tremendous triple detonation virtually unscathed. As the wreckage cleared and the radiation faded from the area enough to remove its interference with the Angori scanners, the weakened state of the insectoids’ massive dreadnought became rapidly obvious.

“Lord Enderis! That big one is in trouble. Its shields can’t be above a tenth the strength they had when we arrived.”

“The battleships are moving forward to cover it, sir. They know their super-ship is in danger.”

The Angori leader’s eyes gleamed as he leaned forward, examining the layout of the forces present in the area on his view screen.

“So they are… this could work out very nicely. Communications, prepare a secure transmission to the fleet.”

“All cruisers are to circle around the FTL interference zone at best possible speed. Launch an immediate assault upon the enemy dreadnought, designated Target Alpha. Light cruisers are to target missiles and fighter craft; larger ships, approach Alpha to within pulser range. All destroyers present are to join the battleships ASAP for fighter and missile defense.”

As this command reached the Angori fleet, 20 battleships were turning to attack each of the six* remaining combat-capable Vzxklackian battleships. The insectoids’ ships were almost twice the length of the Gopher vessels and considerably more massive and durable, but the swifter, more maneuverable Angori battleships were not an easy target for heavy battleship cannons, and their numbers and weapons gave them a tremendous collective firepower. Unless the Vzklackians had a trick up their sleeves that they hadn’t shown yet, their prospects in this battle were beginning to look very bleak.

OOC:
Let me know if I missed anything I need to respond to.

*I think I got the count right. If there are actually more than that still fighting, make it the closest six; if fewer, the remaining Gopher ships go after your dreadnought from the near side.

OOC: There's actually seven left, but one has damaged engines and can't move until the droids repair them.

IC:

"[Shields raising from auxiliary power,]" reported the bridge technician to its commander. "[Returning to a quarter of our strength and above.]"

"[Good,]" clicked the Vzxlackian commander in what appeared to be a pleased demeanor. Another fit of insectile laughter erupted from it. Soon the wrath of a fully shielded dreadnought would be realized.

"[Commander... fugitive vessels appear to be organizing another strike against us,]" interjected another Vzxlackian. "[Available battleships will not be able to intercept.]"

The commander entered a rage again and screeched its orders across the dreadnought bridge. "[Deploy all space mines, sphere formation radius 12! Report to Imperial Space and request further assistance... Destructor Fleet.]"

"[Commander... it will take some time for a Destructor Fleet to arrange itself before arrival.]"

"[Do not question my orders!]" buzzed the commander.

And so they were not. The massive dreadnought deployed its full load of space mines in a full spheroid formation around itself at a several thousand kilometer radius. The mines would stand in the way of most blasts, and hurtle themselves toward enemy ships that came too close in range. They would act as a buffer while the dreadnought continued to recharge its shields and sent its distress call back to Vzxlackian space.

The battleships and fighters, highly durable in combat intercepted what Angori vessels they could. Unfortunately the Angori plan was going well, and the limited number of ships could only deal with the immediate twenty. The seventh immobile dreadnought occasionally fired a random shot in the direction of the skirmish while repair droids continued their work on its engines.

“Target Alpha is restoring shielding, your Lordship. Scanners indicate that power levels have roughly tripled, and they’re going up fast.”

Enderis cursed, glowering at his view screen, as a multitude of tiny points dispersed from the image of the Vzxlackian dreadnought.

“Those [untranslatable in polite company] shields recharge almost as fast as battle screens, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, now they’re sending out defensive drones of some sort!”

His clawed fingers moved swiftly on his control panel, sending out a series of messages, and two vessels slipped out of each of the complex, swirling formations that surrounded the six fully-operational enemy battleships. This left only 18 to take on their original targets, but they still added up to over nine times the length of the Vzxlackian ships, and a considerably higher total volume. Even the Angori ships had some difficulty fitting within pulser range of their targets without interfering with each others’ lines of fire or maneuvering room, but their crews were well trained, and skillfully surrounded each of the battleships with a whirlwind of lethal fire.

The fleet of cruisers sweeping toward Target Alpha from the other side of the battle made clearing a section of the minefield their first order of business. Light pulser turrets and weapons-grade photon emitters joined the torrent of fire from assorted point defense weapons. However numerous the mines that made up this field might be, it surely wouldn’t last long against such an assault – and meanwhile, on the other side of the dreadnought, 12 battleships and scores of destroyers were beginning a similar attack.

The call for additional reinforcements did not go unnoticed, but the Angori had already brought in everything that they could spare for this battle. They would just have to hope that it could be finished before more enemies arrived.

"[Shields at 30 percent of maximum and still rising,]" replied a confident technician at the bridge's control panel. "[Enemy forces concentrating fire on space mines.]"

The commander simply laughed, feeling a moment of triumph beginning to return. These time consuming fugitives would soon know the proper wrath of the Vzxlackian Empire. Their fleets would be obliterated utterly.

The space mines surrounding the dreadnought, while not meant to be a permanent defense, was buying the large ship enough time to restore its shields with its auxiliary reserves. Mines exploded by the hundreds as the Angori blasted their way through the deadly wall. Regardless, the dreadnought's strength was gradually returning as they were forced to deal with such a measure. The mines, programmed with a standard AI, frequently closed up gaps that formed in the sphere, slowly growing thinner.

Each of the six battleships did not have much difficulty sustaining the firepower of eighteen vessels, merely having the number of targets to deal with being more the annoyance. Cannon fire was violently exchanged with the Gopher ships, their potence being a level higher in explosive power. Vzxlackian fighter swarms continued to soar around enemy vessels like angry hornets attacking great bears.

A breakthrough was finally reached on the seventh battleship by its repair droids and its engines flared to life. A clumsier turn than usual was made and came in to engage the hundred and eight Angori vessels, joining its sister ships in full dire spirits.

OOC:
Just to make sure, you're aware that there are 18 ships attacking each of you six basically undamaged vessels, not 18 in all, right?

OOC: No I'm not aware.

OOC: Ah well, now you are.

IC:
Angori battle screens lack the sheer durability of the Vzxlackian shields, and as the struggle continued, several battleships withdrew from their formations, gliding to one side of the fight to let their weakened screens recharge. Battle screens do replenish very quickly, though; this was merely a brief pause in their attack, and so far, none of the Angori battleships had sustained serious damage. For the fighters and destroyers, of course, it was a different matter, but they came much closer to matching the vast Vzxlackian swarms than any force had managed earlier in the battle. The destroyers, designed to take out small, fast targets in large numbers, made a formidable addition to the battlefield.

Lord Enderis watched the distribution of mines on his screen for a moment, noticing the way in which the gaps were filled. Against random fire coming from all directions, or even a loosely focused assault on one side, this would keep the shell solid until too few mines remained to maintain it. There were, however, more ways than one to skin this cat. Enderis sent a few more detailed instructions to his cruisers.

The results were immediately obvious. The cruisers halted their general attack on the far side of the mine shell; indeed, for a moment, they stopped firing completely. Then a wave of concentrated, synchronized fire slammed into the field of mines near the center of the cruiser fleet. Based on the thickness of the somewhat depleted shell and the destruction rates observed in the beginning of the assault, Enderis expected that it would prove more than sufficient to punch straight through the shell, wiping a small area clean of mines. And before this volley even struck its target, more fire was lashing out at the edges of that region. If a section of the mine field could be cleared completely, it should prove relatively easy to keep it clear, and even widen it, by blasting the mines that were moving in from the edges.

Enderis didn’t like having to rely on ‘should’ in his planning, but he wasn’t one to pass up an opportunity just because it wasn’t certain to prove successful.


Meanwhile, those battleships closest to the Vzxlackian vessel that had just restored its engines to some approximation of functionality moved into an even swifter and more complex series of evasive maneuvers. Hopefully, some of the shots fired at them would hit their targets, instead.

So far it seemed the new strategy was going well, the mine field thinning while a hole was being maintained. Nevertheless, the dreadnought's shields were already at over a third of their former power. It was enough durable strength to deal with the vault of fire that managed to pass through the field. This success was not unnoticed by the command crew of the large vessel.

"[Enemies are deploying a drill strategy against the mines, commander,]" reported one of the several Vzxlackians perched at the bridge control panel. "[Mines are being destroyed before they can fill the gap.]"

"[Think they are clever, do they?]" buzzed the commander with a predatory stare. "[Disperse the mines towards the enemy targets. We have enough shield power to endure their returned bombardments now.]"

At the commander's order, the protective sphere of mines was dislinked, and instead hurtling out toward Angori targets. It was a nasty trick, one that was regularly deployed against difficult opponents. Each explosion was several dozen gigatons in power as the mines annihilated themselves against Gopher ships and their defense screens.

The seven battleships continued to deal with the Angori vessels as a large animal deals with gnats. As the seventh attacked, several of the enemy attacked, causing one stray plasma bolt to hit the shielding of one of its sisters. A detectable notch of shields dropping could be observed from the blast, but it wasn't enough to do considerable damage.

That's when the conflict between the Miehmish fleet and Vascilians escalated. Vzxlackian fighter swarms moved rapidly to avoid fire that was intended for Miehmish targets.

The Aumanii missile barrage caught the Miehmish vessels off guard, primarily due to the focus on the Allaneans. Most never made it past the point defense, but many found their marks in the sides of their Miehmish targets. Battleships rocked as their shields were tested, some even begining to lose field strength, but the real damage was dealt to the destroyers that were hit. The FTL inhibitor field began to weaken as destroyers became burning pyres. While a horrible death for sure, at the very least the crews would find their way to the afterlife easier.

The Aumanii fighters were also more effective than initially expected. Like the Miehmish ships, the Miehmish fighters were also primarily focused on the Allaneans. Taking advantage of this fact, the Aumanii squadrons began to rip into the Miehmish fighter formations in much the same way that a Gatling gun ripped into Confederate battle lines, scoring many easy kills.



Back on the Inverse, Prince Aseroth monitored the initial skirmishing done by the Aumanii forces.

"This is going far better than expected. The pirates are barely putting up a fight at all. They're almost entirely focused on those uncivilized dog fuckers." commented Aseroth.

"Shall we open fire?" queried one of the weapons officers.

"In just a minute. I'm going to send one final broadcast to the combined fleet announcing the signal. Load a red flare into the launcher."


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Five seconds after the message was sent out over the massive signal lamps, a bright red flare shot from the top of the bridge, signalling the attack. Immediately, every one of the more than two thousand forward facing main guns and spinal guns in the Bryn Shanderan task force opened fire, each one targeting the Miehmish flagship. Following close behind, the cloud of Bryn Shanderan fighters shot forth and began to line up on the remaining Miehmish fighters and smaller ships.

"Admiral, FTLi inhibitor field is destabilizing," the Senior Sensors Officer reported. "We're beginning to see tachyon bleed-through."

"Looks like the Aumanii hit the correct targets then... prepar-"

"Admiral, incoming message from the Shanderans!" The Senior Communications Officer ran it to the Admiral who quickly read it just as the red flare shot from the bridge of the Inverse.

"Fire off our own red flare! Signal the fleet to conduct an alpha strike!" At that instant, the entire New Havenic fleet opened fire on the flagship of the Miehmish fleet.

As soon as combined fleet fired, the fighters and attack strike craft of the New Havenic fleet screamed in towards their targets: the Miehmish strike craft and light capital ships. Torpedoes flew off their pylons, detonating against the shields and armor plate of the Miehmish destroyers, further dampening the FTLi field with every detonation.

"FTLi field is fluctuating wildly!" The Senior Sensors Officer called out. "We're starting to pick up tachyon navigation beacons!"

"After the alpha strike is finished, fire on the Miehmish destroyers! They must be housing the FTLi generators!"

"That was established a few pages ago, asshole," The Tactical Officer noted.

"What was that?" The Admiral asked as he turned around.

"Nothing, sir..."

"Thats if anything is left..." The XO mused at the earlier order to fire.

'Fleet General, our missile barrage has scored many hits. We're detecting massive damage in the enemy fleet.' Lyboc's sensor operator sounded off. 'Excellent.' said Lyboc smoothly, raising a fist to his chin contemplatively.

A short time after Lyboc gave the order to prepare a second barrage, the signal flare was fired.

'Open fire with all cannons. Launch another missile barrage as well.' shouted Lyboc enthusiastically. The ship rumbled as its full power was unleashed upon the enemy. Lances of blue particulate matter smashed the Miehmish vessels several moments before the missile barrage was in range to be detonated...and when it reached the enemy, they would become the very first in a new series of statistics.

The sudden rush by the Vzxlackian mines was a clever tactic, and reserving their full speed of motion as a surprise could have proven devastating in many battles. In this case, however, it was not entirely unexpected. The mines had demonstrated the ability to move under their own power, and it was a small step from adjusting their arrangement to serving as attack drones, instead of in a defensive capacity. Still, there had been no way to be sure if such a change in tactics would occur, much less predict exactly when.

Thus, the mines got closer to their targets than they otherwise would have before prompting a response, but the Angori reaction was still quick and well-practiced. Of the two forces assaulting the Vzxlackian dreadnought, the cruiser fleet was in the better position to meet this new threat. Between the hole in the shell near the Angori vessels and the massive bulk of the insectoids’ ship between them and the other side of the mine field, there were no mines close to the cruisers, and all of those that attacked them had to approach from the sides, in a relatively narrow range of directions. The ships in the center of the Angori fleet swept back and out, so that the cruisers formed a hollow cone, and each vessel was able to fire at the oncoming mines. They were spread out just far enough that the explosion of a destroyed vessel would not greatly affect its neighbors, and it was well that they were, for more than a dozen of them were destroyed. Many more battle screens dimmed as explosions and shrapnel washed over the assembled cruisers, but this was still little more than a pinprick to the hundreds moving in to attack.

The 12 battleships on the other side of the dreadnought faced a greater challenge. Their side of the mine field had suffered less attrition in the initial phase of the assault, and it was still spread out more or less uniformly. Additionally, the battleships, while swift and maneuverable for ships of their size, were still slower to accelerate than the lighter cruisers. Their weapons cut a swath through the attacking mine swarms, and scores of destroyers swept in to their defense, but the squadron still suffered a heavy blow. One of the vessels was destroyed outright, another was disabled, and several suffered damage. Additionally, seven destroyers found themselves too close to Vzxlackian mines, and their wreckage was scattered as their power cores detonated, adding their fury to the brilliance that lit up this corner of space.

The other battleships continued tearing at their larger Vzxlackian counterparts. Mighty though the insectoids’ shields were, the weapons these vessels mounted were not shrugged off lightly by any defense, especially considering the number of shots crashing against the two-kilometer Vzxlackian battleships every second. They might consider the Angori vessels little more than a nuisance, but they couldn’t stand up to this sort of pounding indefinitely. Angelic Gopher battleships continued to retreat from their prey as the Vzxlackian cannons wore down their battle screens, but ships with fully restored defenses were also returning to the fray, and over a dozen vessels were constantly attacking each of the six chosen targets. The smaller ships’ evasive maneuvering was protecting them from a considerable fraction of the enemy fire; like a human flailing at a swarm of mosquitoes*, the Vzxlackians often struck nothing at all.

The Angori fighters and destroyers swept clear of the charging armada as it carried out its assault upon the Confederate forces, continuing their struggle with the Vzxlackian fighters. The cruisers, on the other side of the 20 km. Vzxlackian dreadnought, had no such worries.

Angori heavy cruisers and battle cruisers are designed to be able to put at least a nick in the defenses of a Demonic Gopher dreadnought. Although the Demgori shield generators lack the efficiency of the Vzxlackian devices, they are formidable enough by most standards, and constructed on a truly enormous scale. To have even a chance of taking down the shielding of one of the six Demgori warships, a fleet requires tremendous firepower. Although much weaker than the battleships struggling on the other side of their target, the almost 400 cruisers that were now approaching pulser range of the Vzxlackian dreadnought were still armed with a very large hammer indeed.

*OOC: Heh, couldn’t resist turning your own analogy against you.

As the mines carried out their heavy damage against the Angori ships, the dreadnought began to resume total open fire on its enemies. The dreadnought, like most Vzxlackian designed vessels, was more heavily armed than most ships from other nations. Strings of torpedoes and massive blasts of plasma and ion energy slammed against their targets. The great vessel was at half of its former power now, but still a great opponent nonetheless.

The battleships continued their unending struggle against the Gopher ships. While six were focused on by the enemy, the seventh continued its harassment of the enemy vessels, aiding its sisters. Occasionally it would take several potshots at the recharging vessels that would momentarily retreat. Still, there were far too many of the beasts to be dealt with adequately.

However, that was what the fighters were for. The fighter swarms, avoiding the great skirmish between Confederates and Vascilians were free to concentrate their energy fully on the gophers. With over 26 thousand fighters in the immediate area, it was an overwhelming force for the Angori. Neither side suspected that this skirmish was the least of their major concerns.

Overshots from Vascilian ships began to pass through the Vzxlackian-Angori battle as the number of Confederate vessels quickly waned. It was the start of something far worse for either side. Occassionally stray missiles and energy beams from the other battle struck Vzxlackian shields and undoubtedly the battle screens of their Angori counterparts.

“Sir, we have lost a light cruiser, the Nefarious, from Miehmish fire.”

The Grand-Admiral shrugged. “Activate code sigma-nothing.” – he didn’t even have to think as he said this. The ‘code’ was a pre-determined course of action. Now, all the various crews would have to do was to carry out the various orders that flashed onto the screens of their computers. And these were, in themselves, very simple.

The Allanean fleet split up, it’s formation opening like a giant flower that was moving in space, the Miehmish ships at the centre of it’s petals.

“At my command! Fire!”

And then everything lit up. Thousands of beam weapons, gattling cannons, missile launchers fired at the Miehmish ships. Nobody knew exactly how many – but there were at least 10,000 rockets fired at every Miehm ship, and at least 1,000 cannon aimed at it.

Of course, this number involved even the smallest anti-light-vessel cannon that could not welll damage a capital vessel. But still, the firepower was unbelievable.

“Let no man survive!”

The cruisers rushing toward the Vzxlackian dreadnought now faced a more formidable threat. Though some of the bolts of plasma and torrents of ions surged harmlessly past their targets, many more slammed into – and, all too often, though - the cruisers’ screens. Still, they advanced through the lethal fire, around explosions and scattered wreckage, to lash at the mighty dreadnought with their own weapons. They did not expect, or even hope, to destroy the larger vessel. Their task was simply to weaken the dreadnought’s shields and distract its crew as much as possible until the battleships could move in to defeat it.

The thousands upon thousands of Vzxlackian fighters were a problem, though not necessarily an insurmountable one. They outnumbered even the swarms of fighters that had arrived on the Angori carriers, but the formidable Angori hunters were fighting on much closer to even ground now, and many of the destroyers were pouring fire into and around the tiny Vzxlackian ships. The enemy pilots could afford few distractions in this aspect of the struggle.

The Angori battleships had bigger problems, though. As they continued their lethal dance around the Vzxlackian vessels, the newcomers were starting to open fire on the Confederate fleet. They had barely a moment’s warning, and in most cases, this wasn’t nearly enough time to react.

Virginia’s escort of battlecruisers didn’t even begin to stand the slightest fraction of a chance. Swift and powerful though they were, they simply didn’t have the defenses to resist the torrent of fire that washed over them on its way to the Confederate flagship. The 4.5 km. black and silver superdreadnought was another matter; the first few shots glanced off its shielding without any visible sign of damage. The Confederates loosed a great swarm of missiles and one last volley with Virginia’s 750 cm. grasers before the incredible wave of particle beams, missiles, and energy bolts smashed the great ship like a crystal vase before a blacksmith’s hammer and scattered its constituent atoms across the void.

Of course, the volley didn’t stop with the obliteration of its targets; indeed, those weapons absorbed by the Confederate vessels were replaced by the flying wreckage of the shattered ships themselves. The last few destroyers died with Virginia, allowing the FTLi field to vanish like a popped soap bubble, but only a few of the Angori ships were prepared to take advantage of this fact and skim to safety. The ships closest to the edge of the field of fire, including most of the ones that had retreated to restore shielding, were able to get beyond it before the bulk of the wave of destruction reached them, though three of them were destroyed by stray fire. As for the rest, all they could do was spin to present the smallest possible profile to the incoming volley, and hope. The weapons-fire had spread out considerably by the time it reached the Angori and Vzxlackian vessels, but it was still an incredibly destructive assault. Dozens of Gopher battleships were destroyed outright, and many more were severely damaged by flying debris or glancing blows to the heavily shielded wings. The destroyers and fighters were smaller targets, but much more numerous, and the wave of destruction swept through them catastrophically. Its many victims were chosen by sheer chance, without regard for skill or planning. The cruisers were, in some respects, in the best position now. They remained within the shadow of the massive Vzxlackian dreadnought, fleeing away from the volley of death and hoping its mighty shields would protect them.

Meanwhile, in the palace of the High Councilor:

Rage! The Undermind must be truly furious, to give such a clear impression from such a tremendous distance – especially to someone who was not a part of it. Attack upon a Demgori ally while under a flag of truce, and a flag raised by the one who committed the attack, at that! Treachery and betrayal, not unexpected, but sooner than expected. A death oath – vengeance would be taken! Fury fading into calculation, and then dwindling away from perceivability…

Seldevir opened his eyes.

"Interesting... I wonder if this is related to those missing dreadnoughts. The situation clearly warrants further investigation.”

Opening his eyes, the Angelic Gopher leader selected a flat bowl from a nearby cabinet and set to work.

Numerous fighters spread out to escape the incoming wave of destruction, thousands evading it before impact, thousands more silenced utterly. Their parenting battleships moved to avoid the crushing wave of obliteration, only a scant two managing the feat. The five others were not fast enough to escape the wave's trajectory and their shields lit with a bright luminosity before the mighty vessels were crushed.

The end of the wave continued, hurtling towards the port bow of the powerful dreadnought. There was only a scant moment to detect the fate of their five battleships that the Vzxlackians realized that the dreadnought could not sustain such a blow at its current shield status. It began to maneuver it's retreat when the torrent of energy hit it and after depleting its shields all over again, the bow of the vessel was blasted off utterly.

The damaged dreadnought rocked in space for a moment, then analyzed its situation. It was hemorrhaging atmosphere terribly, personnel getting sucked into the void of space. Desperately a lockdown of the ship was commenced, bulkheads quickly sealed to prevent any further exposure to vacuum.

Already, the two smaller surviving battleships had detected the drop of the FTLi field and began reporting to the dreadnought. The source of the over-destructive volley of energy was revealed to have been the mysterious Vascilian ships that assaulted the hated Miehmish fleet. Retaliation was in order, but with a damaged dreadnought and two battleships, it was not practical.

Only a third of the Vzxlackian fighters remained and they received their orders; attack the ships responsible for this destruction while the rest of the fleet withdrew. Quickly they buzzed towards the Vascilian ships like an angered beehive while the dreadnought and two battleships turned for evasive maneuvers. A second passed and the three ships entered hyperspace travel, disappearing from the scene.

The crews of the Aumanii Fleet cheered as their attack proved overwhelmingly successful. Lyboc, allowing a grin to cross his face, sent a quick message to his counterparts in the Shanderese and Havenic fleets, congratulating them on the victory...or so he thought. The battle, however, was not yet decided.

'General, a large formation is approaching us on an attack vector.' said Cerberus' sensor officer in a passive tone.

Commander Suvla's face twisted in xenophobic revulsion before giving an order to the Communications Officer, 'Command these primitives to stand down, immediately.'

Lyboc's smile faded as he began giving orders. 'Redirect our fighters to intercept the enemy formation. Begin jump preparations, we need to be out of here as soon as Naga is capable.' The Fleet General sighed deeply as he watched the holographic representation of the battle that hovered overhead. A vast swarm was cutting a straight line towards the Vascilian formation. Aumanii cruisers were excersizing their right to fire at will, sending a deluge of missiles towards the Vzxlacian fighter swarm. The Gorgons, however, held back, waiting to see the results of skirmishing Norieganias before committing their firepower. Point defense crews through out the fleet prepared themselves for the incoming wave of enemy fighters, firing white hot ranging shots from their 105mm cannons. Aumanii fighter pilots, in their thousands, were eager to become the first Aces of a new generation of pilots.

'Communications, inform Minotaur that she will be needed.' Said Lyboc, dejectedly...he would have preferred to have won this battle without Tyz'Juan's assistance and keep the honour for himself. The AuBSD Minotaur and her fleet should arrive within the hour, however that would prove to be far too late.

As the Vzxlackian fighters hurtled towards their targets, the Aumanii barrage of firepower struck them. Nevertheless, many of the explosives battered the small needle-shaped vessels uselessly, their shields holding back much of the force of impact. On they still came, their twin plasma cannons swiftly returning fire.

The swarm of fighters divisioned themselves amidst the Vascilian ships, hounding them ruthlessly. They had perpetrated a great offense, assaulting Vzxlackian vessels on a policing action. Though initially ordered to cover the retreat of their parenting vessels, they would plague these savages with everything they had until the Destructor Fleet arrived.

"Well, that was easy." commented Xiloscient from the bridge of the Inverse as he watched the Miehmish fleet vanish in a cloud of explosions. As he watched the torrent of beams keep going and turn the Angori and Vzxlackian fleets meet a similar fate, there was only one thing he could find the words to say.

"...Oh shi-"


When the cloud of Vzxlackian fighters moved to intercept, the Bryn Shanderan fighters and mobile suits were still mopping up the Miehmish ships and fighters and unable to intercept. The tens of thousands of 120mm autocannon turrets in the Bryn Shanderan fleet opened up with millions of shells in the short time it would take the bugs to close in. The gunners were horrified when they saw their shells explode harmlessly when impacting the Vzxlackian shields.

Fortunately, the Vzxlackian fighters were unable to do enough damage to do more than irritate the men monitoring the shields. For now, it would seem that there was a stalemate.

"Hot damn, we did it!" Grand Admiral Peterson said. "Sensors, report!"

"We nearly annihilated the Miehmish fleet in that barrage, no survivors." The Sensors Officer indicated. "Grav sensors indicated a much greater drop in mass ahead of us, slightly more than the Miehmish fleet was estimated to contain."

"You mean there is collateral damage?" The Admiral asked.

"A lot of it. Either a lot of one of the neutral fleets fled or we blew them up too. Tachyon sensors indicate several large capital ships left the scene immediately following the alpha strike, but not in the general direction of the Miehmish Flagship."

"Goddamn! I'm going to get praised and beat on when I get home," the Grand Admiral noted.

"Well, its not li-" The sensors officer paused to check his screens. "Shit, we have incoming on the central attack vector! Unknown fighters ranging from 330 degrees to 30 degrees!"

"All hands, prepare for combat! Launch another red flare!" The Zeus launched a red flare as the point defense guns sprung to life. Like their Shaneran counterparts, the gunners were shocked to see their shells having no impact against the fighter cloud. However, the attacking fighters were equally ineffective against the capital ship shields. "Bring the fighters back!"

"Fighters responding to tightbeam comms!" The communications officer reported. "ETA in one to three minutes!"

"Move us towards the fighters to shorten intercept time."

"Aye, sir."

The Vzxlackian fighter pilots skillfully maneuvered their ships along the larger masses of their new enemies. At first the twin plasma cannons would seem ineffective, but with there being over 8600 of the small ships, the impacts would be felt in short order as their blast power eventually totaled up. It was like snow, one snowflake on its own unable to do much, but many snowflakes would cover the ground in short order.

Typically fighters relied on the larger, far more powerful battleships and dreadnoughts for regular sensor reports. That was not an option anymore, as their parent vessels had retreated. Each fighter pilot had been forced to switch on their more inferior sensor equipment as the assault raged on. It was found that the ships were sending some manner of short wave communication back to the area of the debris, undoubtedly for fighters of their own.

Short communications shifted between fighter to fighter, cautions of increased guard being advised. Intercepted bands would have simply provided short noises of indecipherable buzzes and clicks for their enemies.

The Vzxlackian fighters swarmed the Vascilian ships, focusing almost entirely on the destroyers and frigates. About thirty fighters targeted each of the Vascilian escorts. The escorts were small and relatively heavily armed for their size. 120mm and 105mm autocannons spit flak like mad, trying desperately to take down the insectoid fighters by the tens of thousands. The autocannons were trying in vain, however, as the flak was completely ineffectual against the shielded fighters. On the other hand, the main guns of the frigates and destroyers were more than adequate for the task of downing the fighters, turning them into blossoms of fire with a single glancing shot. Hitting the agile fighters wasn't easy, but the escorts were packing plenty of guns and it would be far harder for the fighters to damage them. It would only be a matter of time before losses forced the Vzxlackians to retreat.


"Turret two reports a kill on a fighter. Turret five got one as well." reported the weapons officer on the bridge of the Bryn Shanderan frigate One Thousand Broken Dreams (FF-1669). As he gave his report, the number three turret just below the bridge lanced a fighter as it zipped across the bow, promptly exploding and spraying the shields with debris. "Score one more for turret three."

Another formation of fighters dove at the One Thousand Broken Dreams, spraying fire from their plasma cannons as they shot towards the ship. The impacts left their marks on the shields as small but quickly expanding clouds of incandescent helium plasma that rolled along the shields away from the impact points. Turret three opened fire once more after quickly training towards the attacking group, and one more of the fighters became a ball of fire. The shot also grazed a second fighter, which spun helplessly out of control and into the frigate's shields, managing to slip through the weak point caused by the concentrated plasma bolts relatively intact. The doomed Vzxlackian fighter slammed into the frigate's hull on the starboard side, just between turrets one and three, penetrating the 2000mm of multi-layered ceramic-titanium composite armor and several bulkheads before exploding and tearing a hole in the side of the ship and destroying the starboard crew quarters and several energy conduits. Fortunately, the atmosphere had been vented before the battle started and there was no explosive decompression.

While damage control teams scrambled to put out the fires and assess the damage, smoke and flames streamed out of the hole in the One Thousand Broken Dreams and made the damage obvious to everyone that could see. Several other ships had been damaged by similar collisions, though the damage to the fleet was so far minimal, with no ships yet lost. Hopefully, the Vascilian fighters would arrive soon and take some of the heat away from the escorts.

The insectoid species of Vzxlack was a vigilant race and remained on the offense. Losses had been taken, but it so far remained unnoticed by the large numbers. Lucky shots by the main cannons of the ships they assaulted were a rare event, often moving too fast for the cumbersome turrets.

Overall, it actually seemed that the Vzxlackians had something resembling an upper hand for once in this entire police operation. Communications remained active between the fighters as they continued the barrage of fire against their enemies, trading status reports on their targets. Several had been damaged by downed fighters and plans to concentrate on those areas spread through the swarm.

'Conducting take off preparation.' the launch technician squawked over the radio. Captain Kluft sat anxiously in the cockpit of the agile "Fury" air/space superiority fighter. The engine noise was barely a hiss through the thick armoured hide of his plane.

'This is Shek'Hesserit One, can we hurry this up?' said Kluft, anxiously tapping the throttle.

Shek'Hesserit Squadron, premier fighter unit in the Aumanii Army Air Corps, was the only bunch of pilots still left on board the Cerberus and were unfortunate enough to be tasked with shooting down the Vzxlackian swarm that was attacking them. None of the other squadrons were close enough to intercept the enemy.

'What ever, prepare for launch.' retorted the technician. Before Kluft could prepare the catapult flung him and his squadron of 3 planes into space, directly into a fusillade of plasma fire. Kluft's wingman exploded and he knew this was going to be a rough ride.

For a moment the Angori ships remained motionless, their crews shocked by the destruction that had torn through such a large chunk of the Quick Response Fleet in such a short period of time. Then Lord Enderis issued his commands, reaching enough of the ships under his command that those no longer included in the communications net were able to figure out their part in short order. While the surviving cruisers and battleships withdrew from the area of the fighting, the remaining destroyers and fighters swept into the fray, attacking the Vzxlackian ships from behind as they clashed with the other vessels present.

Perhaps all hope of benefiting from this conflict was not lost, if these strangers could be convinced not to count the Angori as enemies.

Some 14 hours after the battle began, in the palace of the High Councilor:

Seldevir set out a sheet of thick, faintly yellow paper on his desk, then dipped his archaic quill pen in a pot of deep purple ink and began to write. The note was short, a single paragraph, and he finished quickly. Setting it aside to dry, the Angelic Gopher leader scurried quietly to his door and spoke to a nearby guard in the hallway.

“Fetch me a slave – a child, innocent. I have some spellwork to do.”

The guard nodded and moved off, and Seldevir returned to his room to begin preparing the envelope that would carry his message. This was a much longer and more complicated task than writing it; by the time he was finished, it was all but covered in a series of runes and symbols. Some were written in simple ink, others in fresh blood, melted wax, or more exotic substances. When it was complete, he folded the note in it, sealed it with golden wax, and traced out an even more intricate array of signs upon his floor. A careful incantation completed the spell, and the letter vanished.

"Twenty seconds to fighter cloud intercept!" The Helm Officer responded

"The frigates and destroyers are reporting sporadic shield failures in the areas being targeted by the enemy fighters," the Tactical Officer reported. "They will start seeing hull impacts within the next thirty seconds."

As soon as the Tactical Officer said that, the first wave of fire sprang forth from the fighters as they swept between capital ships, the combined firepower of the fighters able to break through the shields of the Vzlackian fighters (although smaller one-on-one engagements, for example, damaged the shields but did not drop them). The red clouds surrounding the New Havenic escorts began to wane as the fighters attacked their Vzlackian counterparts.

"This isn't a cakewalk, Zeus," one of the squadron leaders called in just as a frigate detonated.

"We've lost the Arthur Smith!" The Tactical Officer reported.

"Order the destroyers and frigates to close in with the cruisers and battleships! Prepare to extend our shields over the areas weakened by enemy fire!"

"What the hell was that!?" shouted Xiloscient on the bridge of the Inverse.

"Reports indicate that the New Havenics lost the Kusanagi class frigate Arthur Smith." responded the communications officer.

"Our fighters are inbound. ETA sixty seconds." reported the flight operations officer. "My instruments are showing that the New Havenic fighters are already on scene, but they're not faring well."

"Our escorts are reporting two hundred and eighty kills so far. The One Thousand Broken Dreams, Aor Chryseion, and Zulfikar have reported significant hull breeches from enemy fighters crashing into them. Our shields seem to otherwise be holding up against the enemy attacks fairly well." said the communications officer.

"So what you're saying is that the New Havenics are just incompetent and shouldn't be using our hardware?" asked Xiloscient in response. "We should have let them keep playing with their Lego ships if this is how they're going to misuse ours."


Meanwhile, the Bryn Shanderan fighters began to arrive on scene to protect their fleet. The Bryn Shanderan pilots were much better at their jobs than their New Havenic counterparts, and were faring far better at destroying the Vzxlackian fighters. Though a few stray shots from the mega-particle cannons on the Bryn Shanderan fighters were ineffective at getting past the Vzxlackian shields, a burst sustained for several seconds did the job fairly well.

Unfortunately, the unshielded Bryn Shanderan fighters were easy prey to the plasma cannons that the Vzxlackian fighters were packing, and many fighters were lost as the Vzxlackians began to switch their focus from the warships to the fighters.

There was not nearly enough Vzxlackian fighters to go around to fully counter the Vascilian fighters. Nevertheless, without their parent ships nearby, the fighters were utterly incapable of retreating without suffering the worse fate of becoming stranded in space. Thus the battle would become a fight to the death as the Vzxlackians faced overwhelming odds.

To Vzxlack's benefit; however, the unique hive mind connection that Vzxlackians shared allowed the rest of their species learn a useful tactic. Memories from this struggle would be passed down throughout the conscious thoughts of every living member of the insectoid species. The fighters were an integral weak point for these foes, and retribution would be met by sending a far greater number after them within time.

For now, the Vzxlackians would fight and die in droves against an outnumbering presence. But the next time... the next time the Vzxlackians would be those that outnumbered their enemy and utter annihilation would become of those that defied them.

With the Vzxlackian fighters alone and outnumbered, they could no longer swarm around the larger Angori ships like hornets. Organized groups still managed to hammer through the battle screens of the Gopher vessels now and then, and even to destroy a few, but most of their attention seemed to be focused on the strangers. Pulsers slammed the insectoids' ships furiously as the battered scraps of the destroyer fleet spun through their midst, and the remaining 'Gopher fighters added what they could to the fray. The focus, more than on sheer firepower, was on precision; with any luck, not one shot from the Angori ships would strike any of the newcomers. The Angelic Gophers could afford to be careful, now.

The tide, which had turned so many times in this battle as new forces arrived, was finally washing in.

Pacific Station, in orbit around Nova Tüalthiâ

"Commander, the dreadnought is complete! All that remains is to program and install the central computer."

"Excellent! I shall inform the Deep Warlord at once. Zeek will be very glad to hear this."

OOC: Well, since my allies can't be bothered to get online or post...


IC:
As the Vascilian fighters arrived and engaged the Vzxlackian fighters, the skilled pilots that flew under the Vascilian banner quickly decimated the Vzxlackian squadrons. The unskilled pilots, on the other hand, recieved two rank promotions. It only took a dozen or so minutes before the last of the thousands of Vzxlackian fighters was destroyed. The final shot of the battle was fired by Lieutenant Junior Grade Aaron McMahon, who became an ace and legend in the space of an hour as he used his stock FA-01 Goshawk to sink six Miehmish warships, a battleship included, and destroyed thirty four Vzxlackian fighters. When he returned to his ship, the Suiseiseki class light cruiser Hina-Ichigo, he was welcomed home as a hero.

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Inverse, Xiloscient was not in nearly as high spirits. His orders had killed tens of thousands of neutral sailors, if not more, and caused the entire fighter compliment of one of the neutral factions to throw itself into the Vascilian fleet to be destroyed utterly. So far, the Angori vessels hadn't reacted as poorly as the Vzxlackians, but that could change. Unsure of his continued ability to command the vessel and the combined fleet, Xiloscient turned command of the Inverse over to his executive officer and handed the Bryn Shanderan fleet over to the commander of the Inverse's sister ship, Shabrinigdo, Admiral Jon Norazza. Likewise, the general command of the combined fleet was handed over to Aumanii Fleet Commander Lyboc. After issuing his final orders before turning over command, Xiloscient retired to his quarters. He clearly needed a drink.

The Godulans had long since reorganized their ship into its less imposing form, and now simply sat on the far outskirts of the battle... just watching...

Popcorn?

Yeah sure...

This is some great stuff eh?

Almost worth the metaphysical stench of being in this hellhole of a galaxy.

I'll say. Every now and then we stumble on a real entertaining situation.

Fighters landed in waves on the Cerberus. Flights of planes in various states of disrepair were placed in maintenance bays. The pilots, drenched in sweat, obviously disgusted with their own performance shuffled to debriefing like zombies. A last pair of planes landed gracefully, completely undamaged, on the deck of the Cerberus. It was Shek'Hesserit. Kluft and his wingman sprang out of the cockpits of their planes with an exuberance not seen in the other pilots, they jogged quickly to the debriefing room.

----

The Tactical Command Center of the fighter wings was massive, resembling an amphitheater. Thousands of pilots were seated, and as numerous as they seemed there were still many empty seats. The leader of Bhaz flight was reviewing gun camera footage of the recent battle, remarking on the resilience of the enemy. He personally shot down two enemy fighters, which was a feat of excellence compared to the majority of the pilots assembled. When he finished his speech he was met with applause, he truly was a hero of this battle.

Kluft and Hessman, his wingman, sat quietly in the back rows. They watched the briefings of the other flight leads and spoke quietly to one another when they gave their assessments on the best way to down the enemy. Finally, it was Kluft's time to speak.

Kluft strolled casually, with out strain, to the podium. Everyone stood up and saluted him. Casually, Kluft uploaded the footage from both his and Hessman's cameras.

'Take your seats, gentlemen.' said Kluft. They did. 'This was a rough battle for all of us. Join me in saluting the honoured dead.' Kluft took a glass of bourbon that waited for him on the podium. A similar glass was on the arm of every seat in the house.

'Al'Bahz. In'fame. Sh'hite. In fire. In infamy. In death.' After speaking these words he drank half the glass and poured the rest on the floor. The ritual was repeated by all the pilots.

'Vengeance. What is it?' asked Kluft. A chorus of replies came from the audience. Many different variations, but all the with same basic meaning. 'To defeat the enemy in retaliation for the loss of a comrade. Many, especially in A.M.M.A. say that revenge is a terrible thing and that the military is not in the business of it. I say this is false. The revenge killing will always be an important part of our motivation. How many pilots did we lose today? Ten, twenty? Why did we lose these brave warriors of the sky? I'll show you right now, my friends.'

The lights went out. Black and white footage started to play in correlation with a massive holographic sphere which showed the positions of the fighters involved in three dimensions.

'This is footage from Greb team. Fine pilots all of them.' said Kluft coldly.

Greb 1 is seen chasing a Vzxlackian fighter, easily keeping him in his gun sights and pouring cannon and laser fire into him to no avail. On the hologram you can see the rest of Greb team engaging the enemy in pairs or individually. Single Vzxlackian fighters eventually turn on the Aumanii and destroy them with clouds of missiles and plasma fire. This was not an easy task for the Vzxlackian pilots however, the Aumanii were far more maneuverable than the bugs.

Greb 1 can be heard screaming as, finally, he is shot down and killed by a raging fire in his cockpit. Kluft loops this last piece to drive the point into his pilot's, many of which are nuggets, heads.

'This is not a simulation. When you get hit up there, you will die. Greb 1 was one of my best friends and he burned to death in his cockpit because he failed to recognize the needs of the enemy. The need for them to be annihilated, utterly, and with out prejudice.'

Kluft was silent for a moment. Greb 1 could clearly be heard screaming his wifes name as the flames finally took him.

'Now. Take Shek'Hesserit's example. A three plane formation, where a standard flight is six planes. We were the first Aumanii pilots to engage the enemy. Watch.'

Three planes are seen leaving the launch tubes of the AuBSD Chimera protected by a rain of explosive shells.

'You might think we had the advantage, leaving the tubes under the protection of Chimera's flak guns. It couldn't be further from the truth. As you can see, Shek'Hesserit 3 is destroyed immediately upon making egress.'

You could see the explosion on the right hand side of Klufts gun camera and the subsequent impacts of shrapnel on his plane. Over the radio you can hear the muffled screams of a man enraged, Hessman. Shek'Hesserit 3, June Hessman, was Stark Hessman's wife. On the hologram you can clearly see Hessman turn a sharp right and engage a flight of three Vzxlackian fighters head on. Four missiles dart from Hessman's fighter, followed by a lance of laser fire and the stuttering barrage of cannon fire.

'Here you see Lt. Hessman successfully shoot down what I assume is the enemy flight lead. I turn to join my wingman at this point.'

'Shek'Hesserit 1, Python 1.' said Kluft, as he released a single missile on the tail of a Bug fighter. The missile hit and while the footage seemed absolutely remarkable, nothing happened.

'Lt. Hessman once again shoots down an enemy fighter by mimicking the Fleet, performing an Alpha Strike.' Hessman can be heard yelling obscenities and ignoring proper radio and ordnance protocol.

'I unleash a total of three missiles, one laser bolt and around fifty two rounds of cannon fire into the remaining enemy fighter. It is destroyed. This is an incredibly successful tactic, however, we soon ran out of missiles. Guns and lasers weren't adequate...unless combined with fire from both of our planes'

Footage showed repeated cannon shells from Klufts plane hitting a bug fighter, a laser bolt impacted the shields causing the enemy to wobble. Over head Hessman can be seen, barrel rolling, firing his cannons and lasers into the enemy. With both planes engaging at the same time, the Vzxlackian finally broke apart and exploded.

'While the majority of you were trying to make names for yourself, Shek'Hesserit Flight, in the spirit of vengeance, combined its efforts and destroyed fifteen enemy aircraft. Lt. Stark Hessman is the first new Ace of the Chimera. A god damn hero.' said Kluft, sharply.

'Work as a team. Defeat the enemy. Avenge your comrades. Dismissed.'

----

Lyboc sighed as Suvla ran over the damage to the Fleet. 'Send the damaged ships to Elysium as soon as Minotaur arrives. Have them escort the Naga and the others.' said Lyboc. Suvla simply nodded his head and carried out his orders.

The Fleet General leaned heavily on a railing and contemplated the battle.

OOC: Vzxlack has asked me to post the departure of my forces from the battlefield. I plan to eventually have a “Find Them! Part II”, but in the mean time…

IC:
As the last few Vzxlackian fighters were destroyed, the remnants of the Angori fighter swarm returned to their parent ships. A few score surviving destroyers swept about the site of the battle, collecting the largest scraps of Angori wreckage and towing them to one side. As cruisers and battleships gathered around this collection, the six cacrriers skimmed in from the point where they had been observing the struggle, and wreckage and survivors alike were loaded aboard.

Enderis sent out a quick transmission, open to all the forces remaining at the battleground.
-“Strangers, it seems I may owe you some thanks. Had your volley not shattered that cursed fleet, those lunatics might well have proven more than equal to the forces under my command, in the end. However, you also destroyed many dozens of my own ships, and killed I know not how many of my people, without the slightest provocation on our part. There are those who would be howling for your blood in my position, but I am a practical being. Even if I could exact vengeance with the forces currently at my disposal, that would not replace the lost vessels, much less restore the lives you ended.

Besides, we Angori have enemies enough already, and it is one of those that must be my concern at the moment. As we prepare to depart this cursed place, I will ask you only one thing. Have any of you recently seen one or more warships that dwarf even that dreadnought that so recently fled? We seek desperately for news of our oldest and most bitter foe, for even one of their vessels could prove devastating if it came upon our home unexpected, and three of them have escaped our sight.”-

By now the Angelic Gophers had salvaged all they could from the battlefield; in minutes, they would be gone.

OOC: Please pardon me for digging up a thread that’s gone so long without activity; I have no wish to interfere with another’s plans, and it seems inefficient to start a new thread for what should be a very short sequence.

That answer would have been a resounding "no" in the end, and by the time the Destructor Fleet arrived on the scene, all they would find was the wreckage left behind by an epic battle. The two massive Vzxlackian dreadnoughts and their twenty accompanying battleships dropped out of hyperspace. Immediate scans of the area revealed not a sign of life among the wreckage that littered the area. They had just missed the Angori and Vascilians whom had parted ways.

Scanners moved on to study recent warps in the fabric of space, discovering several trails that led from this region of space. One trail, showing the most distortion in space and time, gave clue where the larger number of ships had left. The two other trails were smaller, both possibly a smaller fleet each.

The Destructor Fleet would need to split up to follow all three, and follow all three it would. Several scout ships disembarked from one of the two dreadnoughts and sped off after the largest space distortion trail, the main bulk of the Vascilian fleet heading towards the wargames. For now, the formidable enemy would be observed. As for the two other trails, the Vzxlackians would split into two groups consisting of one dreadnought and ten battleships. One group entered hyperspace after the remainder of the Angori fleet and the other followed the third trail to a place called Elysium.

From this point, conflict with the Galactic Empire of Vzxlack had only grown. The events to come would become legend.